Bailey In Exile
by SideshowJazz1
Summary: Second in the "Juvie Bird" trilogy. Bailey's seventeen when Duncan tells her that there's an opening for a newbie on Total Drama All-Stars. She takes the chance for a million and a way to get away from her parents. Apart from the life-threatening challenges, Bailey's haunted by nightmares about Mal, who talks about finishing what he started with her...and now Zoey's involved, too..
1. Chapter 1: Invitation

**A/N: Yes, here it is, my story about Bailey, and on Total Drama! It's the prologue first, but soon we'll get into the story. Prepare yourself for a version of All-Stars with the same cast and challenges...but more than a few changes!**

 **Plot: Bailey may have stopped making too much trouble, and she's not dating Duncan any more, but when he tells her that Total Drama All-Stars is one player short, she jumps at the chance to go on the island and find out what it's like for her friends. She's the extra player for the Villainous Vultures – it doesn't matter that the robot turned out to be another contestant. But with Gwen and Duncan's relationship crumbling, and Mal slowly returning, Bailey has put herself in more danger than she realizes...**

 **Disclaimer: I only own Bailey. I do not own anyone else.**

So I'd been watching the _Total Drama_ series for the last two years. I was seventeen and a half, and the summer before senior year approached. I was desperate to get out of my house for the summer.

Luckily, I had a savior. One evening, on the last week of school, I got a message on Facebook from Duncan, my ex-boyfriend and still one of my good friends – possibly the only good thing about my stint in juvie when I was fourteen was meeting him.

It said: _You still looking for a way to get lost this summer?_

I messaged back: _Duh. Why, your parents looking to adopt someone?_

 _Like I'd want you in my house, hot stuff._ Duncan teased in the message. _I'd be finding it increasingly hard not to cheat on Gwen – I'll admit, what I did to Courtney was not a good move. Anyway, I've got a proposition for you. I just got a message from the Total Drama producers. They want me to come back for the summer, for an All-Star season._

 _So?_ I was curious, but that was all I messaged.

 _They're one player short._ Duncan explained. _They couldn't find the last person they wanted to bring back, so it's basically whoever they can find. If I email them right now and no one else has come up with an idea of who to bring, I can offer to bring you to the island to compete. You in?_

I paused, thinking about this. Getting away from my family? Check. A chance to win money? Check. Something to do for the summer? Check. Hanging out with friends? Check (and I'd met Gwen and liked her). Yeah, there was the narcisstistic host Chris McLean (who had actually been in jail for a year after turning the camp into an environmental disaster area), and crazy challenges, and a bunch of people that would drive me nuts, but...

 _Count me in!_ I typed.

My parents' reaction was so predictable it was not even funny. They practically disowned me, telling me not to bother coming back if I didn't have the money.

I simply folded my arms. "Fine." I said defiantly. "Duncan's parents are cops. I'm sure I can ask them about child abandonment and see if I can take you to court for it. With any luck, Courtney will be on the season and I can ask her, too." (Courtney had sued the show before, but I was going to try to avoid her if she was there. But they didn't have to know that). I resolved there and then to ask Duncan's parents if seventeen was the right age...well, his mom. When we'd been dating, Duncan's father was very clearly disapproving of him dating someone he met in juvie, but his mom had been pretty accepting of me, especially since I hadn't done really big crimes since (although I was still Queen of Graffiti and spray-painted, but hey, no more fireworks).

That comment really set my parents off, so I made myself scarce and took the next bus into the city. I should mention here that I'd changed a bit from how I was at fourteen (duh!) I still had my nose piercing, but I'd stopped being into all-black and instead, my favourite outfit was a long-sleeved violet shirt and a little black leather skirt (both of which I decided to wear on All-Stars if Duncan got me the place – hey, if Gwen and Lindsay could get away with short skirts, so could I).

I was sent the contract a few days later. I signed, sent it off, and summer vacation finally began. I spent one grim week at home, and then it got to the day where I had to grab a bus to get to the airfield where we'd be picked up.

I was one of the first to arrive (the aircraft hadn't arrived yet), and I looked around to check who was there so far. I recognized Sierra from the third season, stalker of poor little Cody, superfan and blogger of the show, placing fourth in her only season. Yeah, she had to be on this season, didn't she? At least she probably wouldn't be interested in me. She was only interested in people who'd been on the show – I remember her confessional when she was saying how insignificant she thought Alejandro was, calling the girls he'd attracted "loco". That was in the second episode of the season, and she was only saying that because he was new. Yeah, couldn't she wait a couple episodes when there was a good reason to hate him?

Lightning, the idiot jock from the last season, had also arrived. I'd steer clear of him, too. But if I took him by surprise, I was pretty sure I could win a fight. He was like a retarded version of the guys I hung out with at my school. He got to the finale in the fourth season, but his only strength was physical.

The last of the people that had arrived before me was Zoey from the fourth season, who placed third. Finally, someone who was actually normal! She did have that crazy commando thing going on for a couple of episodes, but she seemed to be back to her nice-girl status, if a little more confident. I caught her eye, and she smiled uncertainly.

"Hello." she said. "Are you here for Total Drama All-Stars? I don't remember you from any of the other seasons..."

"Yeah, probably because I wasn't on them." I told her straight out. "They had an extra space, and I'm friends with Duncan, so he pulled a few strings and got me on the show. I'm Bailey. And I already know you. Zoey, isn't it?"

Zoey nodded. "Well, nice to meet you." she gave her usual sweet smile. "So does that mean Duncan's on this season?"

"Yep!" I nodded. "Do you know anyone else coming?"

"Well, there's-" Zoey began, as a few more people arrived.

"Zoey!" called out one of them.

"Sorry, have to run." Zoey said quickly, running to the person calling. "Mike!" she called, hugging the guy.

I couldn't help smiling. I'd met Mike in juvie, only then he was being controlled by a psycho personality known as "Mal" who developed an unhealthy obsession with me. I only got lucky because Mike took control again, and now that one was gone for good. But I most likely couldn't say the same for the other four of Mike's alternate personalities. But then, they weren't psychopaths.

When Mike saw me, his eyes widened. "Hey, Mike!" I called.

"Bailey." He smiled tentatively. "What are you doing here?"

I shrugged. "They needed a spare. I still keep in touch with Duncan, even though we broke up, so he suggested me to them and I'm here."

I surveyed each person as they arrived. From the second generation cast, besides Mike, Zoey and Lightning, there were weak bubble boy Cameron, the winner of the last season – but I had to be careful not to underestimate his brain. Then there was Jo – bossy, strong, a bit manipulative...huh. I could probably crush her once we didn't need her any more. Then there was Scott, the devious hick who kept eliminating members of his own team, and placed fourth. He also manipulated Zoey, but once Mike was kicked off, she lost all trust in him. Thank heaven. Last, there was Sam – wait a minute! Sam is considered an _All-Star?_ He only lasted six episodes as a competitior! I mean, yeah, I wasn't an All-Star either, but he'd competed too. Couldn't they get Brick, or Anne Maria, or at the very least Dakota? They all stayed longer. Oh well, at least he'd be easy to beat.

Duncan was one of the last of the first generation cast to arrive, but he was there, with Gwen. I waved to both of them. But then Courtney had already arrived. Sadly. I was going to hate having Miss Former CIT/You'll-be-hearing-from-my-lawyers around. At least we also had Lindsay. She was a bit of a bubble brain, but she'd be an easy out, and she was nice. And speaking of her old minion in the first season, Heather was back. Joy. Okay, so she had improved from the first season, and at least Alejandro, who was like a worse male version of her, wasn't back (although I wasn't sure why – he was in the final two with her in the third season), but still.

I found it strange that not all of the finalists were back, yet they had players that were definitely not all stars. Like where was Owen and Beth? They'd both been in the final two. Owen had actually gone on to beat Gwen in the finals in the first season, and Duncan had only won the second season against Beth by one vote (although it's questionable who Izzy, one of my cellmates from juvie and another competitor, would have voted for if she hadn't written down "Explosivo", her imaginary friend).

And for some reason, they brought a feral Ezekiel back, although he was kept in a cage on the flight to the island, which was flown by...Chef Hatchet, Chris' sidekick, with the same sadistic streak with a bit more of a ferocious front and not too much of a bite with his bark.

As we hovered over the island, we heard Chris' voice coming through a speaker. "...safe secure environment, surrounded by the people I love...to hurt." He laughed. "It's a condition of my parole, except for the hurt part. That, that's all McLean." He explained that he was bringing back fourteen All-Stars, and as he introduced each of them, Chef threw them out of the aircraft, unless they got out fast enough. First there was Mike, then Zoey (she dived), Lightning (spending too much time boasting to show off his diving skills), Cameron, Sam, Scott (who had to be pulled off, and Jo (who managed to push Chef away, but only long enough to yell at Chris that he was a dead man.

Then, out came the original cast, starting with Courtney. Gwen was next, but she objected when Chris introduced her as "Courtney's bestie-turned-boyfriend-stealer". Whatever. It wasn't like I cared. After Gwen went Duncan, followed by Heather, Lindsay, and then Sierra (she actually jumped).

Ezekiel turned out to be a joke, who was hurled to the other edge of the island by some robot standing next to Chris.

"Kidding!" Chris' voice said through the speakers. "No way is that guy coming back again! But to make up the numbers, we have one new victim – I mean, contestant, suggested to us by one of our veterans. According to him, she's tiny but tough, an artistic vandal, and has just signed up for something she'll regret for the rest of her life...welcome Bailey!" And before I could react, Chef had hauled me to the door of the aircraft and pushed me out. I positioned myself to dive, just before I hit the water, and struggled to shore with everyone else.

This season, things were going to be brutal.

 **I figured I had to get things set up before starting the show properly. Hope this chapter wasn't too boring. I'll keep updating.**


	2. Chapter 2: Keep Up With Them

**Let's get to the true season. Thanks for reviewing, queenoftrouble, Katie Grimm, AvrilLavigneFan2001, Bloodylilcorpse and the guest reviewer. Sorry to everyone whose review I missed in the last story – my computer went weird and I'd backed up before the reviews came in and forgot to write all of them down.**

"Greetings, old friends!" Chris grinned. "Oh, and newbie." he added, glancing at me.

Heather was the first to speak up. "I am NOT your friend." she said in her usual irritated tone.

Lindsay smiled at her. "Aww, somebody misses her honey bunny."

Heather glared at her. "Who? Alejandro? As if! I'm _glad_ he isn't back, that handsome jerk."

Courtney glared at Chris. "You're going to pay for my dry-cleaning."

"No, I'm not. New contracts, 'member?" I rolled my eyes. Chris was bad enough on the screen, but when I was actually here, it felt as if he was several times more obnoxious. He went on to tell us the new things. "First, the island is now one hundred percent toxic-waste free."

I breathed a sigh of relief. The contestants almost died several times because of toxic waste last season.

Sam wasn't so happy. "What? I only came back to get up close with some toxic goop so I could become a kickbutt mutant, like my gal Dakota." He held out a picture of him with Dakota, one of the old contestants-turned-intern-turned-mutated contestant. Chris had made her go into a mine for forty minutes, and afterwards, she lost all her hair, before mutating into a green-haired, orange-skinned creature.  
"Gee, too bad." Chris laughed. "Guess it's gonna be all pain, no gain for you, huh?"

On the other hand, there was one good thing. Chris said that the winning team got better accomodation than the cruddy cabins on the island. The losing team would sleep there, but the winners would get to sleep in a spa hotel, "Complete with butler, hot tub and twenty-four hour masseuse."

We all cheered. Finally, the teams were being split into Heroes vs Villains.

I made my first confessional on that. "So I'll be on the team that's missing one Villain or Hero, right? Let's see...Heroes will have Zoey, Cameron, Sam, Lindsay, Sierra, Gwen and probably Mike – I mean, his personalities were all good last season. That leaves six Villains." I grinned. "Well, at least that means I'll be with Duncan! And that's the right team for me."

Sure enough, Chris stuck me on the Villainous Vultures with Heather, Jo, Lightning, Duncan, Scott and...Gwen? What the...how could she be considered a villain?

"Sha-team!" Lightning exclaimed.

"Wha?!" Gwen exclaimed, looking horrified. "Why am _I_ on the Villains' team?"

Courtney answered. "Because you stole my boyfriend and became the new Heather!" Okay, now I got it.

"Yeah, what she said." Chris agreed.

"But I've done so many good things! I'm not a villain, I'm nice!"

"Being bad is cool." Duncan told her. "And now we're on the same team, so that's good, right?"

"I guess." Gwen muttered, not sounding happy at all.

The other team were the Heroic Hamsters. The only really questionable choice was Courtney, who was clearly a villain.

At that moment, Chris' robot began bleeping. "What?" Chris said. He paused. "Oh, I get it. You wanna be on a team." He turned to my team. "Also, you guys get the robot." As he spoke, the robot wheeled itself over to us, beeping happily.

"I thought the robot could talk." Scott spoke up.

Chris shrugged and said something that made Lindsay ask "Was that English?"

Basically, whatever it was, he meant that the communication chip stopped working while he was in jail and so the robot couldn't talk any more. But it did try to edge as close as it could to Heather. "Keep your distance, toaster!" she scowled, pushing it a little further away.

Chris told us that this was a season which would have challenges based on seasons from the past, and I thought back my favourites and least favourites from seasons. I'd loved the talent show, the horror movie challenge, the New York challenge and the modelling one (when they had to rescue Lindsay afterwards). But on the other hand, I'd hated the eating challenges, as well as the canoeing one, the hospital movie one (although Heather's will was funny "To my brothers and sisters, I leave you nothing. Earn it yourselves, you lazy slackers!"), the Germany one, and the one where Zoey went all insane after Chef shot her with pasta and the necklace Mike gave her broke.

This one was based on the original first – jumping into shark-infested waters from a high cliff., but this time, it was to find the key to the spa hotel.

I heard Scott gulp when Chris told us that. He'd had a problem with a mutant shark called Fang last season, and eventually, Chris had let it attack him. He'd recovered now, but I understood if he was scared of sharks. I had my own fears. I was scared of confinement – after juvie, I had a few recurring nightmares about being locked in a windowless room with Mal, who would...well, you don't want to know. Thankfully, I hadn't had any more of those nightmares since I was fifteen.

Anyway, what would happen was that there were several keys embedded in the sand below the cliff. Each person would dive in, and try to avoid the sharks long enough to grab one of the keys. Then, a teammate would drive us to the spa hotel in one of the baby carriages from the New York challenge in World Tour. First team to get the right key would sleep there that night, other team sent someone home.

"Meet me at the base of the cliff in fifteen minutes, chop chop!" Chris said, climping onto a tractor an intern was driving.

"Wait!" Mike called after him. "Shouldn't we change into our swimsuits or something first?"

"Sorry! No time!"

So we all had to walk through the forest. It was annoying, not knowing most of the people.

"Ugh, I said keep away from me!" Heather yelled at the robot. I walked with Gwen and Duncan, since I knew both of them. Then Heather and Jo got into an argument, and Gwen tried to make peace. "Guys, just because Chris labelled us 'Villains' doesn't mean we have to act like villains! We're a team! We should work together as a team!"

I think all of us made confessionals about that team. Mine went like this: "Okay, Gwen, if you ever see this, you know I love you and all that. But you've been on this show for four seasons. Since when did any of the people on this team besides you and Duncan not have their own agenda? Kudos for wanting the best, but whatever the opposite is for thinking it's possible. I certainly don't trust anyone on this team. And I'm only on the Villains' team because there was a spare spot left for me!"

Courtney kept looking over at us, trying to burn Gwen with her glare, I swear.

Gwen noticed it too. "Courtney keeps glaring at me like she's trying to set me on fire."

"I'll give her a glare back for you." Duncan offered, but the second he did, Courtney looked away. "Um, hello? Courtney? Hey!"

I gave Duncan a shove. "What, isn't it enough to have one ex-girlfriend be friends with you? What would you want with Courtney any more?"

Duncan shrugged. "Nothing. I just don't like being blanked." He put his arm around Gwen to emphasize it. "There is never going to be a 'me and Courtney' again."

I saw Lindsay nudge Courtney and say something to her, but I didn't dwell on it. We got to the beach, and we had to pick one person to drive the carriage.

"I'll drive!" Scott and I said at the same time.

"No, I'll drive!" Jo argued.  
"Sha-please," Lightning said, "You're the slowest go-kart driver ever!"

"But I'm also the shopping cart racing circuit champion!"

"I don't believe that for a minute!" I snapped. "Okay, so maybe I shouldn't drive. I think Lightning should do it – he's faster!"

Lightning shrugged. "Nah, championship status rules. Jo drives."

I gave a sigh. Gwen spoke up. "But Jo, wouldn't you make a better diver, since you're so athletic?"

"No one tells me what to do, goth ball, and don't even try to kiss me!"

Gwen gasped. Yeah, I didn't get that either.

The Heroes were a bit better at choosing, but eventually, Courtney made Lindsay do it. Well, at least she couldn't screw up on that. Right?

The rest of us ran up the cliff, including the robot. We also discovered that Fang was back.

Scott pushed Gwen and I in front of him. "After you, I insist."

"You're _such_ a gentleman." I muttered sarcastically. "Creep."

But I jumped second, after Jo came back with Lightning. This gave me the chance to hear a funny little conversation between Courtney and Lindsay.

"Go, go!" Courtney urged.

"Which way is the hotel again?" Lindsay asked.

Courtney gave a sigh. "Never mind, I'll do it!" But Chris told her she couldn't trade, so she snapped "Just push."

"Okay." Lindsay said. She paused. "How do you push again?"

After I saw Jo and Lightning coming, I cannonballed into the water, as Sierra stood ready to jump next for her team. I just managed to beat Fang to the shore, and jumped into the carriage. As I did, I heard Sierra, who had just jumped, coming out of the water, calling "I found one that looks like Cody!" Of course. EVERYTHING had to be about Cody for

"Listen up, newbie!" Jo said. "I'm in charge, okay? Get in my way, and I'll make your life a nightmare."

I rolled my eyes. "First, I have a name. It's Bailey. Second, there's only one person here who could match my nightmares, and he probably couldn't any more, anyway."

Jo looked interested. "Oh? And who is that, exactly."  
I shrugged. "Mike. Not like you can use that information against me unless you know all his personal details. I watched the last season. Don't underestimate small people – Cameron proved that he's better than you last season!" When we got to the spa hotel, I tried it.

"Wrong key." I told Jo. "Don't say anything, just get me back, quick!"

As it was, niether team had any luck until it was time for us to try and make Scott jump.

"You have to dive." Duncan reasoned. "It's you or the robot, and I'm pretty sure the robot isn't waterproof."

"Yeah, but it's shark proof!" Scott stammered. Eventually, Lightning managed to pry Scott off the rock he was clinging to, but bumped into the robot. It got to the end of the cliff and made an "uh-oh" sound before the earth crumbled under it.

"So long and good riddance!" Heather said happily.

But then, an explosion happened in the water. A figure was launched out of the water, and even from there I could make out the caramel skin, the dark hair that was long for a guy, the muscular build, and I gasped with the other contestants.

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Heather shrieked.

The fourteenth contestant, our extra player, was Alejandro. I remembered the lava incident at the end of the season, but...the treatment was being sealed into a robot suit? Seriously?

I didn't know whether it was good or bad that he was on the show. On the one hand, he was a strong competitor. On the other, it looked like his lower body had gone numb from being stuck in that suit. On the good side, he had the right key and won the challenge for us. On the bad, he was a devilish manipulator, and the last thing I wanted was to have him trying to charm me.

We got to sit in a little peanut gallery to watch the Heroes kick someone off their team. Gwen attemped to apologize to Courtney about how things happened with Duncan and the whole boyfriend-stealing thing. She even picked flowers and presented them to the brunette, but unfortunately, Courtney was allergic. Her response to Gwen? "Told you you're a villain!"

Bitch. Yeah, you heard me.

And then, Chris said "Before we start, I need one winner to volunteer for a special reward!"

"Ha! Sha-Lightning!" Yeah, Lightning volunteered. To spend the night in exile on that creepy little place called Boney Island. Okay, so there was an invincibility statue hidden there, but still, I wouldn't give up a night in the spa hotel for a chance to find it.

The Heroes voted (this time, it was by drawing a cross on the picture of the person they wanted out), and Chris gave a marshmallow to all but two. "Lindsay, you're on the chopping block for your terrible driving skills. And Courtney, you're on the chopping block for making Lindsay drive."

Lindsay, who had voted for herself (due to the cross on her face), spoke up. "Yeah. What's the matter with you?"

"And the loser is..." Chris said, drawing out the silence. "...Courtney!"

"WHAT?" the brunette shrieked.

"I have to stay here another day?" Surprisingly, this wail came from Lindsay. "I can't do this! NOOOO!"

But Chris wasn't going to change things after the votes were cast. Although Lindsay wanted to go, and Courtney didn't want to, the votes stood, and Courtney was led to the new elimination device. I went with the rest of my team to the spa hotel, but I still caught a glimpse of the giant toilet that people were eliminated in. Chris called it the Flush of Shame. Well, at least it was an extra incentive to stay to the end.

The spa hotel was nice. It didn't have completely separate rooms – there were four, so all of us had to share a room with one of the others. I asked Gwen to share with me, since I'd met her before, and I liked her a lot better than Heather or Jo.

 **So that's Bailey's first day as a contestant on Total Drama! And she's up against All-Stars? Wondering where she'll go next? We'll find out soon!**

 **Sneak peek at next chapter: We get an early glimpse of Mal, Gwen's lost her chance at making up with Courtney, and someone pulls a move that wouldn't sit well if his girlfriend heard of it...**


	3. Chapter 3: He's Coming

**Well, I promised to continue. Thanks for reviewing, Bloodylilcorpse, Katie Grimm, and queenoftrouble!**

That night, the nightmares came back. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was the stressful day, the first time I'd felt so horribly threatened since juvie. Maybe it was seeing Mike for the first time since juvie. Or maybe my mind knew, deep down, that juvie wasn't the end. My dreams were scarier than ever...

 _I sat on my bed in my room in the spa hotel. It was nighttime, yet I was alone._

" _Gwen?" I called out. My voice echoed strangely, as if I was in a room full of stone._

" _Gwen's not here at the minute, doll face. Don't worry, you're alone."_

 _I didn't want to look in the direction the demonic voice was coming from. It was deeper than the last time I'd heard it, but I still wouldn't look up. I couldn't face it. I wouldn't!_

" _I see I've been away for too long." the voice continued. "My slave-girl wouldn't keep her back to me like this. Turn around, doll face. I want to see how pretty you look, now that you're all grown up."_

 _I burned at the humiliation, but I still wouldn't turn. Or reply._

 _The voice gave a mocking sigh. "I suppose I'll just have to come over there and make you look at me." I was still frozen, as the owner of the voice stepped in front of me, and forcefully turned my head to make me look him in the eye._

 _Mal was back in my dreams. He was taller than when I'd last seen him, older and the marks around his eyes were darker. And to make it more disturbing, he looked hotter._

" _Miss me, doll face?" he whispered. "I've been missing you, since I've been locked away. But I'm getting stronger. And I'm just dying to finish what I started."_

 _He paused, waiting to see if I'd say anything. I didn't, so he continued "You are prettier than I remember. I'm glad that I've had to wait, if the rest of you got that pretty, too. I think I'll test if you're as easy as you were then, too...but not now."_

" _Why would you drag it out?" I whispered at last._

 _Mal's smirk disappeared. "Because you wouldn't feel it here. But you wait until I get you alone in real life." His face hardened. "I haven't forgotten how you disobeyed me, cheated me, let me think I was the one with you when all the time you were imagining someone else." He paused. "You know, maybe you're not the only one who needs to learn her lesson. I've been longing to get my hands on that little girlfriend of Mike's...what's her name again? Zoey, isn't it? Yes, maybe I could get both of you girls together for a little 'playdate', shall we say?"_

 _I glared at him, suddenly angry. "You can't do that! I'm never letting you do that to me again, and there's no way you're going to haunt Zoey's dreams the way you haunted mine!"_

 _Mal's voice was like ice. "Speaking out of turn, are we? I'll be sure to give you a lesson in obedience. But for now, my darling slave-girl, I suppose I should let you go." He kissed me so quickly I barely felt it, and chuckled darkly. "I'll see you soon, doll face. You can be sure of that."_

I opened my eyes, my heart still pounding. It was early morning, 6:30, and Gwen was still asleep, so I got up. I noticed the door to Heather and Jo's room was still closed, as was the one Lightning would be sharing with Alejandro when he got back, but the door to Duncan and Scott's room was open and the room was empty, with the beds unmade. Slobs.

I heard the TV blaring downstairs, and heard someone showering in one of the bathrooms, so I went along and showered in one of the other bathrooms, before taking my bikini and having an early soak in the hot tub.

"Hey, hot stuff, mind if I join you before I have breakfast?" I looked up at my friend and ex.

"Won't Gwen be mad at you if she hears you calling me that?" I teased.

Duncan shrugged. "Whatever. I'm still technically dating her, but she doesn't own me. What Gwen doesn't know won't hurt her. It's not like I'm cheating on her or anything." He slipped into the hot tub, next to me. "But seeing you in that bikini would drive any guy wild. Heck, I bet even Jo would wanna jump you right now, and I'm still only 90 percent sure that she's a lesbian."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm pretty sure that she's bi or straight. You should've seen the way she was pretending that she _wasn't_ into Brick. I mean, no girl pays that much attention, positive or negative, to a guy unless she likes him. All you have to do is look at Heather to tell that."

As I chatted away to my friend, then finally went back up, got dressed and went to have breakfast (I got top-notch waffles with syrup and a small bowl of baked beans for health), I began to forget my dream. As if Mal could come back! Mike seemed pretty much in control now – better than he'd been even after he managed to banish Mal.

"I can't wait to be a millionaire." Scott remarked from one side of the table. "I got up at five am this morning to watch the releasing of the doves, and I'm just gonna say it...it was beautiful."

I laughed. "So I guess you were the one watching TV this morning before I was up?"

Scott didn't seem to hear me, since he was blowing his nose on the tablecloth (Ugh! Gross-out), and Duncan spoke. "Yeah, this is the life. And if we keep winning challenges, we can live like kings all season!"

"To villainy!" I clinked my orange juice glass with the boys'.

Gwen, who was at the far end of the table with a stack of pancakes, sighed. "Yeah. Villainy."

"What's up with you, doll face?" Duncan asked. I couldn't help wincing at the name.

"Oh, nothing." Gwen said quickly. "Just...um...you know, wondering how Lightning's doing on Boney Island?" As she spoke, Jo put in an appearance with a plate, piled high with steaks (I knew the others were up, but only because I'd heard Heather in the massage room making her displeasure of having to wait clear – and I figured that since the rest of us were here, Alejandro had somehow gotten to the room first).

"Lightning'll never survive." I said nonchalantly. "Not if he's as dumb as he was last season. If he does, well, more power to him."

"I just hope Lightning doesn't find the invincibilty statue." Jo said, sitting down next to me. "If we don't vote him off soon, he'll be too strong for us to beat later!"

"So maybe we should do it right away." Scott said slyly. "Throw the next challenge!"

I took a bite of my waffles and swallowed. "I watched the fourth season, Scott. That didn't work the first time, either, so don't think it's going to be any better the second time around. We all know that the only reason you eliminated Dawn instead of Brick was because she'd figured you out. The only person who believed you about stuff was Zoey, and you even screwed that up after the merge by kicking off Mike. Get a new strategy!"

"Besides, giving up all this?" added Jo. "No way."

"True enough." Scott agreed, finally. "This is sweet! You know what I slept on last night? A pillow, filled with feathers! Back on the farm, it's a burlap sack filled with small animals. You ever had a pillow bite your face?"

"I would like to enjoy my breakfast now," Jo said, "And that will require you to stop talking!"

I finished my breakfast and slid over to the other side of the table to talk to Gwen. "What's wrong?"

Gwen sighed. "Courtney's gone. The only reason I came back to Total Drama was to make things better with her. But she still hates me and I don't have any way to make things up to her now."

"It's better this way." I told her. "Courtney doesn't want to forgive and forget. Let go of what happened with her. Move on."

Gwen gave a sigh. "I guess."  
"Cheer up!" I told her. "Our team isn't all bad. I'm not that annoying, am I? And Duncan's here, of course. Plus, we do have some really strong players, like Alejandro and Jo."

Gwen managed a smile. "I don't mean to be so sad. And I don't find you annoying – you're trying to help. But I hate being classified as a villain. I'm not one. To be honest, I could quit right now."

"Don't!" I said. "I need a female friend on this team! And Chris would probably do something different, like make you switch teams or something...not that you'd hate that, I'm guessing." I added.

At that moment, Chris called us all to the beach. It was time for the second challenge.

There were platforms on the beach, one per team. I should add here that Alejandro, still claiming everything below his waist was numb and paralyzed, was walking on his hands (yeah, remind me where he learnt to do that like it's normal?), and Heather still didn't believe him about it.

Duncan winked at Gwen as she passed but she didn't see him. "Ooh, somebody's invisible!" Chris chuckled. "Harsh. TV couples – is it ever a good idea?"

At that moment, the boat came back, and Lightning showed off his skill as he got to our platform.

"Any luck finding the invincibility statue?" Scott asked him.

"No need!" Lightning said arrogantly. "I _am_ an invincibility statue!"

"Minute we have a mental challenge, he's a goner." I muttered under my breath. Some of the other Villains were looking annoyed, too. Later on, when we were doing confessionals, a lot of us overheard each other's confessionals. Alejandro called Lightning "arrogant", and Lightning's reaction in front of the camera was priceless.

" _Arrogant? Be fair now. Look at me. Sha-yeah!"_ Oh yes, that wasn't arrogant at all.

The challenge? Basically like the one in Paris where they had to find and assemble a statue. Except this time, we had to look for seven pieces in the sand, and they would make up a statue of a landmark from somewhere they went in the third season. Like the Eiffel Tower, or one of the pyramids in Giza. Whoever assembled their landmark first won.

But at least, since we won the first challenge, we all got shovels, although Lightning tried to take two.

"Um, shovel, please!" snapped Heather, who didn't have one.  
"Nuh-uh." Lightning refused. "I need both. When this one gets tired, I'll use this one!" Heather managed to hit him in the face with one of them, and walked away with it. The Heroes, on the other hand, didn't get shovels.

Then Sam, who was pale and wobbly on his feet for some reason, fell off his platform and discovered the moat full of crabs. We had one two. Jo prodded the sand with her shovel, so we would know where to jump on and off.

Naturally, Lightning was the first to fall in. He missed the moat, but a pole popped up and hit him in the face, knocking him back into it. And Chris warned us that it wasn't the only booby trap in the sand.

I couldn't help laughing at that.

Anyway, it was time to start. The Heroes went into a huddle, and I soon heard all of them shouting an enthusiastic "Go, team!"

Over at my team, things were very different. "Strategy, people, strategy!" Jo called out. "We should start from one end and dig to the other end in a straight line."

"And what if the pieces are all at the far end, huh?" Heather challenged. "Huh? We need two lines that push in towards the centre. Right, guys?"

No one was listening. I certainly wasn't going to listen to the queens of dictatorship. Although Lightning's idea to dig water probably wasn't a good one. But no one else here was that stupid. And this was the guy who made it to the last finale?

We did have a bit of bad luck when one of the Heroes booby traps included a fedora, which Cameron gave to Mike to bring out Manitoba Smith. He found their first piece easily, before flirting with Zoey.

Jo and Heather wouldn't shut up.

"Some team." I heard Gwen muttering from where she was digging.

"Exactly!" Heather said. "A team without a leader is like a horse without a head, it just runs around blind."

Gwen raised her voice a little. "I'm pretty sure a horse without a head doesn't run anywhere!"  
"Agreed," Jo said, "Which is why I should be this team's leader!"

"No, I should!" Heather argued.

"Let's let the team decide!"  
"Fine!" Then Jo started calling to Scott and Heather to Lightning. At least neither of them had paid any attention to me yet. The only recognition I'd gotten on my team was a few curious stares, a couple of conversations with just Duncan and Gwen, and that one thing Jo said to me during the first challenge. To be honest, I liked it that way. I'd rather be ignored by someone like Alejandro than to have him attempt his tactics from the third season on me.

"Attention, team!" Jo called, a few minutes later. "I am your leader!"  
"No, I am!" Heather yelled. That's when she found our first piece, and she and Jo started arguing again.

Still, an hour passed with a lot of holes and no pieces, and Chris started yelling at us. "WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG!"

From the Heroes' side, I heard "We don't have shovels!"

From our side, I heard a lot, but Lightning drowned the rest of us out, yelling "I'm amazing!"

I turned around and gave the sha-moron a shove. Not that I really moved him – I was too skinny and he was too strong, but I was getting sick of his attitude.

Scott was the first to find another piece. Meanwhile, Manitoba helped Zoey with one, accidentally uncovered a cannon, which sent Lindsay flying into the moat.

Gwen, and then Jo found another one, and I found the next.

I heard Manitoba flirting with Zoey again, but her quietly refusing his advances, since she was with Mike, and not another personality.  
"Yep, she's a loyal one." Manitoba remarked. "Mike knows how to pick 'em."  
"Aren't you _married,_ Smith?" I called over, but I didn't get an answer.

Time passed. Scott attempted to cheat. Lightning started showing off, kissing his biceps. "Aren't you beautiful! Look at gorgeous you! Sexy beast!"

"Stop it and get digging!" I shouted at him. As I did, I heard Scott scream and a thud. I turned to see Scott running from bees and Manitoba on the ground. Scott had turned too fast and hit him with a shovel, and at that moment, I wondered what was going on in Mike's mind.

In the last season, Scott had knocked Mike out on purpose, and he'd fought all of his personalities and won. Just like when he fought Mal for me back in juvie, and again, he'd won.

I got a bad feeling as Zoey ran to her unconscious boyfriend. What if a blow to the head brought Mal back? Had my dream meant something?

"Mike!" Zoey called to him. "Oh, please be okay! Mike!"

Mike finally came to. "Oh...my head..." he groaned. He was Mike again. He immediately went back to work with the team, this time as himself again, and I shook the thought away. Mal was _gone._ No way was he coming back, no matter what my unconscious mind was scared of.

After a few minutes, we finally heard some good news.

"That's seven!" Lightning called out. "Let's start sha-building!" All of us went up the platform. Most of us ended up using Alejandro as a bridge when he got stuck.  
"Coming through!" Jo yelled out.

"Woo-hoo!" Scott cheered.

"Sorry, Alejandro." Gwen said politely.

"Thanks!" I grinned.

"Keep still!" Heather snapped.

"Thanks, buddy!" Duncan laughed, the last one up. Lightning was already up.

"Come on, people!" Heather shouted. "Put this thing together already!"

"Try those two together!" Alejandro suggested. "No, _those_ two!"

Lightning spent the time boasting about finding the last piece. "I'm a hero! It's probably a statue of me, being me!"

"It's tall, whatever it is." Gwen said, looking at it analytically. "And boxy, like a tower. Oh, Big Ben!"

But there was a hole in the middle of our statue. Finally, it was Alejandro who pointed out why. "There are only six pieces!"

"Great." Jo scowled. "So Lightning miscounted. Come on, everyone, we've still got digging to do."

But we lost. The Heroes found the torch for their Statue of Liberty statue just before we found the clock face. All of them started cheering.

Sam volunteered for exile. "This one's on me, guys, to make up for my lack of digging skills, and-" Chef immediately took him away on the boat.

The Heroes were sitting in the peanut gallery, and at that moment, I could've sworn I heard a horribly familiar voice mutter seven words.

" _One by one, they will all fall."_

I looked over, just as I heard Zoey say "Huh? Did you say something, Mike?"

Mike gave a gasp that meant he was switching personalities, and said "No, just sitting here." in his normal voice.

I gave a sigh. Maybe it was nothing. I hoped.

I voted for Lightning. No contest. He'd cost us the challenge. I think the only person who had a problem was Gwen, because I heard her confessional. "I don't know who to vote for! They're all evil!" Wow, Gwen, nice. Her boyfriend and I are evil? Thanks a lot, really. No wonder her label online is "the Loner".

But we all got marshmallows, until just Lightning and Jo were left. "Lightning," Chris said, "You're on the chopping block for your crummy math skills and excessive bicep kissing."  
"If they were yours, you'd do it too!" Lightning protested. He started doing it again.

Chris ignored him. "And Jo, you're on the chopping block for your annoyingly pushy campaign to send Lightning home."

"You did what?"

But Lightning was still shocked when he turned out to be the loser, and he wouldn't shut up, even while he was floating in that giant thing. "Tossing away your strongest team member? You're gonna regret this, especially you, Jo! You're a total sha-AHHH!" He was cut off as Chris flushed him.

Two down, twelve to go until I won this thing. I would. Courtney and Lightning were strong people, and they'd gone. If I made it to the finale, chances were I'd have a really easy time, fighting against someone like dumb Lindsay, or weird Scott.

I headed back to the cruddy cabins with the rest of my team.

 **Second challenge done, and yes, no different elimination this time, but things WILL change. Maybe not every elimination, but at least ten of them will.**

 **Next chapter: Leeches, another nightmare, and a team switch of a different kind!**


	4. Chapter 4: Shooting Bloodsuckers

**Let's continue! Thanks for reviewing, Elizabeth Life Stone (you'll see), 123NumberGirl456 (I know, and I didn't want to have her whining for half the episodes), Glowing Insanity (let me know if you were right), Bloodylilcorpse, Ali6132 (and this time, it's personal, so Bailey's even more at risk), Katie Grimm and the guest reviewer (Yep).**

Jo and Heather wouldn't shut up when we got to the cabins. They just kept arguing. "Thanks again for blowing the challenge, Jo. " Heather scowled.

"Me? You were the one who wasted time arguing instead of digging!"

"I wouldn't have needed to argue if everyone just did what I told them to do! I'm the one with the most experience on this team!"

Gwen spoke up. "It's _everyone's_ fault for not working together as a team! Now cram it, I am trying to sleep!"

I scowled at the two arguing girls. "And neither of you are good leaders, anyway. Heather, you got locked in the fridge for being too bossy. Jo, there's a reason most of the fans thought Brick was better than you as a leader. If anyone on this team was a good leader previously, I'm looking to Alejandro. At least he's a team player at times, even when he's not playing leader." Yeah, despite the problems Team Chris Is Really Really Really Really Hot (yes, that was the name of Alejandro's team in World Tour...Sierra suggested the name) had, Alejandro's leadership was top-notch. Everyone knew what they were doing, and he never seemed too domineering.

Being in the cabin with three girls didn't stop my nightmares coming back. Again. Seriously, couldn't they leave me alone?

" _I promised I'd be back, didn't I?" that voice asked. I was lying in one of the bunks (Heather had the top one), and although I couldn't see his face properly, Mal's silhouette and voice was unmistakable. "Recognize me at the campfire pit, doll face? I must say, now I understand what Mike sees in Zoey. She's very cute, in a disgustingly innocent kind of way." His smirk darkened. "The kind of 'cute' that I love to break." He reached down and squeezed my shoulder, painfully. "But don't worry, doll face, you're still my favourite."_

" _Get your hands off me!" I said fiercely. "If this is a dream, how can I feel that?"_

 _Mal shrugged. "Are you sure it's a dream? How do you know I didn't just take control while Mike was asleep and slip into the cabins?"_

" _You didn't!" I whispered. I looked over at the opposite pair of bunks. It looked real – but neither girl had woken up from this._

 _I looked up at Mal again. "Are you a nightmare creature? Like as in Elm Street?"_

 _Mal laughed. "I wish. Then I could visit you and Zoey in the same night. And if I was, I would have taken you already. As it is, you're still wearing pyjamas." He scowled. "I suppose you're just drawing on your memories of me, because you know I'm coming back, and I'm saying these things because that's what I would say to you in real life." He smirked. "You can always tell the real me all these things – see if your mind got me right."_

 _He leaned down to look me in the eye, seriously. "Just remember, Bailey. Breathe one word about me to Zoey or anyone on your team, and I'll make sure you don't leave this island alive."_

 _I knew that he was serious when he used my real name. But still...would I do it? Would I keep quiet?_

That was all I remembered from my dream, but it was enough. I still didn't say a word to anyone about it, though. How could I, when I wasn't even sure of it myself?

In the morning, Chris called us all to the forest. I walked with Duncan, although we didn't really talk. Eventually, Gwen joined us, but she was giving me a suspicious look. It was true that Duncan had hung out with me more than with her, but while I was still a bit attracted to him, I wasn't going to interfere. I liked Gwen. If it had been Courtney...yeah, but I wasn't going to let Gwen get hurt the same way. She wouldn't turn into a psycho like Courtney did, but I knew that when she hurt, she hurt immensely, although she didn't always show it.

Alejandro also said something to Gwen. Something like "If you were _my_ girlfriend, I wouldn't leave you in any doubt of how important you were to me, compared to anyone else. Just something to consider." So he was trying to stir things up? Again? I should've known.

"At ease, soldiers!" Chris said as we got to the clearing. "Let's welcome back exiled hamster, Sam!" The poor guy still looked a bit wobbly, and half his shirt was torn, but at least he was alive.

"Hey, Sam." Zoey said. "How was exile?"

"Apart from the blinding hunger and bear attacks, pretty good actually." Sam replied, trying to seem optimistic. Then he collapsed, and his team ran over to him, all five of them offering breakfast items they'd brought with them from the hotel. Lindsay had even tried to sneak him some orange juice. "I was going to hide the glass in my pocket, but I don't have any, so I put it into those adorable little jam jars!" I heard her explaining.

Chris _said_ that this was the war movie challenge from the second season, but it sounded more like the paintball deer hunting challenge from the first. There were two boxes in the heart of the forest – one with state-of-the-art paintball guns, the other with slingshots. The team that got there first got their pick of the boxes. Then we had to pick off people on the other team. The losing team was the one that had all their members shot.

"Paintball again?" Duncan said. "Oh, original. What a twist." I nudged him, annoyed. No one wanted Chris to make this challenge any harder.  
But it turned out he already had. "Oh yeah, that. One of the conditions of my parole is that I can't use or be around hard projectiles like paintballs. So instead, you'll be using leeches!"

Gross! All of us agreed.

The Heroes got a headstart to the boxes. I could hear them yelling things like "yes" and "go team" and even "for Cody" from Sierra.

"Know who could outrace the Hamsters even with a headstart?" Heather scowled. "Lightning! Way to ruin everything, Jo!"

"We _all_ voted him off, remember?"

"We may not need to worry." Alejandro said, pointing over at Sam, who was struggling to run. Sierra and Mike had to run back.

Gwen gave a sigh. "Now that's teamwork."

Heather instantly changed her tune. "Yeah! Work together now, crush each other later."

"Like you and Jo have, you mean?" I said. "Seems more like you're doing both at the same time."

Heather shot a death glare at me, and then turned back to Gwen, saying something else about teamwork.

I grinned at the guys. "I just got a death glare." I said brightly. "Congratulate me, Heather now knows I exist." The boys looked at me blankly, and I explained "The way I see it, Heather's signature death glare is the only sure way to know that she thinks my existence is worth acknowledging. I mean, how many of you got that as the first recognition of your existence to her?"

Duncan grinned. "I didn't."

I laughed. "The first thing she did was to tell you to drop dead. Sounds like the verbal equivalent to me."

It was Gwen's idea to take another path to cut the Heroes off. Now some of the team was really trying to make out that they were into teamwork, the same way Gwen was.

"Go Vultures!" Alejandro called.

"Yes we can!" cheered Jo. I saw through all of them.

But we did get to the biggest crate first, packed with guns and even a cannon.

"I'll take the cannon!" Jo, Heather, Duncan, Scott and I all chorused. "No, _I'll_ take the cannon!" we snapped at each other.

Alejandro spoke up. "We use it as a team. Right, Gwen?"

"Yeah, obviously!" Heather said quickly.

"That's what I was going to say!" Jo said quickly. "Go team!" I sighed. At least I didn't make up stuff. And they were being so transparent. I mean, Alejandro was the only one who was believable, while Jo and Heather were only acting team-y when they knew Gwen was watching.

"You guys are right!" Gwen said happily. "We need to stop attacking each other and start attacking the other guys. Fire the cannon!"

We hit a cameraman. I decided to stick to the gun after that, but we were still all sticking together.  
"We're easy targets like this." Gwen complained. "Maybe we should ditch the cannon."

"No way!" Jo argued. "I haven't even had a turn to fire it yet!" She caressed the barrel of the cannon. "Isn't that right, sweetheart?"

I burst out laughing at the sight of the girl with the heart of stone hugging the cannon.

Gwen gave her a weird look. "Okay...then we should split up."

Of course, instantly, Alejandro, Heather and Jo started arguing over whoever got to go with Gwen, so I made a run for it, going it alone. Chris kept me up to date, though. Within two minutes, Alejandro, Scott and Heather were already out. Zoey got Alejandro ("Sorry...but not totally!"), Jo accidentally hit Scott with the cannon, and Mike shot Heather.

By the time I was caught, though, I only heard the twang of an elastic band and felt a pressure on the back of my shirt. Then I turned to see Mike, who gave a sheepish wave and dashed off before I could shoot him.

In fact, the only people who survived the game unscathed were Zoey and Mike. Jo managed to shoot Sierra and Sam, Lindsay accidentally turned the slingshot the wrong way and shot herself, and after Cameron got Duncan, Gwen got him.

But it didn't matter who got who, because we were going to elimination again. The Heroes were sitting in the peanut gallery, talking. Apparently, someone had broken Sam's game console.

"Who would do such a thing?" wondered Sierra.

"I know, right?" Mike said in a nervous tone. "It's so totally unexplainable!" Again, I wondered what was going on. Breaking someone's stuff for kicks sounds just like something Mal would do. But it was Mike talking – I could tell, because there were no marks around his eyes.

"Who do you think's going home?" Sierra asked Cameron. "My money's on Jo." She was probably right. I'd voted for her.

"Unless she can convince them-" Cameron began.

"To cut Heather!" they chorused.

Sierra smiled. "Oh, Cameron, we do think alike, don't we?" she gushed. "Do you think it's possible to have _two_ BFFs? I mean, I'm still waiting for Cody to come around and say he'll become my BBF – Best Boyfriend Forever, but right now, we're BFFs, and now..." she smiled again. "I really want to be BFFs with you, too, Cameron." She gave him a hug.

"Um...sure, Sierra, but..." Cameron managed to gasp out, "I can't...breathe..."

"Oh, sorry!" Sierra said, releasing Cameron. "That's just something I tend to do. Don't worry, I won't do it any more if you don't want me to."

Chris called for the exile volunteer.  
"I'll do it!" Sierra called out. "I'm not afraid of a few wild animals!" And she walked away, herded by Chef, while her team wished her luck.

Chris called out our names as usual as he tossed our marshmallows to us. Finally, there were two left. "Heather and Jo, you're on the edge. Heather for being a pain in the kiester, and Jo for being a pain in the kiester, who also took out her own teammate in today's challenge." Yeah, that was what had clinched it. I couldn't stand either girl, but ultimately, Heather was less of a liability. She'd done well in every season previously. I mean, Jo had, too, but Heather was more of a sure bet, since I'd seen her in three seasons, and Jo only in one. Plus Heather had made it to the final three twice! And won a season.

"He should've ducked!" Jo protested. But who cared what Scott should've done? Jo was gone. "What?" she demanded. "Are you all nuts?"

"But, before we get flushing," Chris said. "I wanna do a little reshuffling. I've been rethinking my decisions, and there's a Villainous Vulture who just isn't villainous enough for my tastes. But I need to keep things fair, so I've decided to switch a Hamster with this Vulture. And no hard feelings, Hamsters – you're all pretty heroic. Believe me, it was not easy to make the choice of who to switch. But anyway, pack your bags and switch your teams..."

I wondered who he was talking about. Would I stay on the Villainous Vultures? Who would be moving?

"...Gwen and Lindsay!"

I gasped. No surprise about Gwen, of course not. Her face lit up as she went to join her new team. But Chris had chosen _Lindsay_ to join us? To be honest, I wanted to know if he was nuts. Poor Lindsay.

"Does this mean I have to start acting like a villain?" she asked. "I don't wanna be mean like Heather!"

Chris laughed sadistically. "If you want to, be my guest."

I put my arm around Lindsay as we walked to the cabins. "Hey, welcome." I said. "In case you don't remember, I'm Bailey. Don't worry, not all of us are that mean. You don't have to act like Heather. And Alejandro, Duncan and Scott are all on our team. You know Duncan and Alejandro, right?"

"Yeah..." Lindsay said slowly. She frowned. "I don't like Jalapeno. He tried to kill someone in a challenge, I remember." She paused. "Duncan's okay. I think." She looked at me. "Bailey, did you say? Can I trust you?"

I almost laughed. "Sure you can trust me, Lindsay. I'm one of the nicer villains."

 **So..what do you think? I know a lot of people thought that Duncan didn't deserve to be on the Heroes' team, so now Gwen is, and he isn't! I know, Lindsay doesn't deserve to be a Villain, but sorry, I needed someone to switch with her, and she was the only one left that I could afford to take out.**

 **Next chapter: Lindsay is annoying, pancakes and an amicable break-up.**


	5. Chapter 5: Villains Plus Bubble-Brain

**Let's continue. Now let's see...I think EVERYONE commented on the team switch. Yes, Lindsay is heroic. But with Courtney gone, there's not really anyone else I could switch. Sorry, but the team needs a token hero, and Gwen's original storyline has been torn up as far as this story goes. Thanks to the reviewers: Bloodylilcorpse, queenoftrouble, 123NumberGirl456, Elizabeth Life Stone, Katie Grimm and Glowing Insanity.**

I didn't have any nightmares about Mal that night. That was a pleasant surprise. I went to the confessional afterwards, in the early morning – like just after sunrise. "I didn't have nightmares last night. That was great! I hope that's an omen for the rest of the season."

I decided to do something fun, so since the other girls in my cabin were all asleep, I took a can of blue spray paint out of my bag (hey, so I like doing graffiti) and went to the back of the cabins. On it, I sprayed the words _What's your label? I'm label-free_ (Later on, Sierra made a blog for me, and gave me a label, actually: the "Lawless Artist", so I can't say that any more).

I was glad the cabins' roof stretched just past the walls, because it started raining minutes after I'd finished, and if it wasn't, the graffiti would wash away.

The girls in my cabin were woken up when Chef tossed powdered gruel into our cabin. None of us actually ate it, though. I think the only person who enjoyed it was Scott, since he actually came to our door to ask us if we had any left over. We let him have it all.

Lindsay was still a little bit apprehensive about being on our team, so I appointed myself her bodyguard. Heather addressed a few comments to her, but whenever she did, I was there.

"Thanks for protecting me." Lindsay said gratefully.

I shrugged. "I hate bullying for no reason. I saw how Heather treated you in the first season, and I figured you deserved a fair chance on this team."

Lindsay looked downcast. "I don't like being on a team of villains." she said. "Everyone on the other team was always nice to everyone else, and I wasn't scared of anyone."

I looked at her skeptically. "You're _scared_ of people on this team? Seriously? Who?"

"Everyone." Lindsay said, oblivious to my annoyance. "I'm scared of villains. Isn't everyone who's not a villain?"

I crossed my arms. "So what's your definition of 'villain'? Were you scared of Duncan, Alejandro and Heather before they were villains?"

Lindsay paused in thought. "I was always scared of Heather." she confessed. "And sort of with Doug. But...whatever it was...he was always nice to me. So not really."

"So you're only scared because they're called villains now?" I scowled. "That is one of the most shallow things I've ever heard! Seriously, bubble brain, get a life!"

Lindsay looked upset. "What did I do?"

I gave a sigh. "Okay, sorry, Lindsay. But I don't take any of that back. I mean, I guess you really can't help being a bubble brain. The audience likes you because you're sweet and pretty, but they also like you because they think you're hilarious."

Lindsay smiled warily, not sure whether I was complimenting her or not (I wasn't, but I was impressed that she kind of knew I wasn't being nice).

I wondered how Gwen was faring among the Heroes. They were probably having fun welcoming her.

The weather cleared up in the afternoon, and Chris finally called us out to a clearing. Sierra was also back, looking a little tired, but nowhere near as beat up as Sam was.

She frowned. "Why's Lindsay with the others? Isn't she on our team?"

"I decided she and Gwen should switch teams." Chris told her brightly. "Fun, huh?" I saw Sierra instinctively reach into her pocket, but then her face changed, and she looked worried. Obviously something had disappeared, and I wondered what it was.

"It's challenge time!" Chris called out. "Chef didn't have time to cook Team Loser's breakfast this morning...because he was busy making these!" Two large stacks of pancakes stood there, a flag with our team logo on each plate. "That's right – it's eating challenge time!" I was glad I hadn't eaten any powdered gruel that night. I was starving hungry, and those pancakes looked pretty good.

Each of us would take turns scarfing down pancake for sixty seconds, then a sound (a screech for us and a choir for the Heroes) would play, signalling that our eating time was up. Then we'd run an obstacle course. If we barfed at any point, we'd be benched, but if we didn't, we could eat again. The person who finished the pancakes would have to run the obstacle course again, and the team who did it first won.

The obstacle course had four red balls. Then a rolling pin and a boot.

"That won't be so hard." Scott scoffed.

"Oh, really?" Chris said. "I wasn't gonna add this, but since Scott's not impressed...bring it in!" It was a round contraption that would spin around like crazy. Chris called it the salad spinner.

"How does it work?" Mike asked.

"Probably painfully." Chris answered. "I don't know, we didn't have time to test it."

"Oh, thanks a lot, Scott!" I snapped. "That'll make it _so_ much easier for me not to hurl."

It was time to start. Alejandro spoke up, looking at Heather. "We need a team leader, and I think it should be you."

"Fine." Heather said. "You go first, but you'd better have a big appetite!"

"As you wish."

Sierra was already eating her stack, but Alejandro was doing surprisingly well. Even when he found a couple of rats (Chris mentioned the booby traps in the pancakes only after that), he ate quickly. Sierra found some fish eyes, and it looked like she was about to barf, but she kept it down. Still, even with her major skills, Alejandro was on the obstacle course long before her.

I watched him on the first obstacle. "How does he do that?" I wondered out loud. "I mean, how can he tuck himself into a ball like that if his legs are paralyzed?"

Heather looked over at me. "You're right." Her eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute...he's faking it?" She huffed. "He is SO dead!"

"Don't kill him yet." I advised. "He's pretty good at this challenge." I nearly had to eat my words when he almost barfed after the salad spinner, but he didn't.

Heather wanted Scott to go next, but he complained that his stomach hurt and I offered to go. "I'm starving!"

As I spoke, Sierra finished the obstacle course and Cameron ran up to start eating.

And apart from the chilli flakes I found in some of the pancakes and a disgusting amount of syrup, I could deal. The pancakes were still much better than any of the food I'd had in juvie, and I really was hungry after not eating any breakfast.

The screech sounded. "Run, Bailey!" I heard Alejandro yelling. "Run as if your life depends on it...which it does!"

I managed to keep the pancakes down after the obstacle course, but I didn't think I'd be able to eat again.

Time passed. People continued eating and doing the course. Gwen was the first to barf, all over Duncan, in fact, poor guy.

After he was done, Heather looked at Lindsay. "Lindsiot, you're next."

I scowled. "Don't call her that! But yes, Lindsay, it's your turn."

Mike went up against Lindsay, and they both started eating like crazy. Mike was on the obstacle course first, and as I watched, I saw him doing something when he left the salad spinner. Then Lindsay was sent flying on it, as it spun faster than ever before.

We won narrowly. We were ahead, but Sam caught up. Heather and Zoey were eating, but Sam got Zoey to tag him, and Alejandro got Heather to tag him.

"Come on, Ale-whatever!" Scott called out as Sam was nearly done.

"Don't bother!" Heather yelled. "Obviously, he can't do it!" That was the exact thing Alejandro needed to hear. Sam finished just after him, and he couldn't catch up during the obstacle course. Alejandro had won for us!

Sam was voted off that night. He just wasn't useful enough to the team to keep.

As for exile, Scott eagerly volunteered.

But after elimination, Gwen went up to Duncan and said "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute about something? Privately? It's really important."

Duncan came back to the spa hotel, looking downcast. "What's wrong?" I asked bluntly. "What did Gwen say to you?"

Duncan gave me an irritated look. "She dumped me, okay? Now can you give me some space?"

"Okay, okay." I said defensively. "Excuse me for caring why you're unhappy."

I turned in early. Now, Lindsay was sharing a room with me. Oh well. At least she wouldn't ask any questions.

 **Ugh, this chapter felt SO uninspired. Notice that Bailey saw the lever on the salad spinner being changed, but she doesn't know that's what it was. But she'll be watching Mike closely from now on.**

 **Next chapter: A blue moon, Heather's Lindsay imitation, and Alejandro's "paralysis" is addressed!**


	6. Chapter 6: Sky Blue

**Right. The blue harvest moon challenge! Thanks for your review, Elizabeth Life Stone, Katie Grimm and Bloodylilcorpse.**

The nightmares didn't stay away. I had one break, and then they came back...

 _Lindsay was in the room, this time, asleep. I shivered as I sat up in my bed, pretty sure I knew where this dream was going._

" _One, two, guess who's coming to find you..." sang a deep monotone voice mockingly. Mal appeared out of thin air and sat down on the bed, purposely crushing my upper legs, pinning me there._

" _Have you seen me yet, doll face?" he asked with a smirk. "I'm pretty sure you must have. Remember how hurt your teammate over there got?"_

 _I stared at him. "What did you do to the spinner?"_

" _Chris was going too easy on everyone." Mal shrugged. "There's a couple of levers on the controls. I don't know how they work, since I'm in your mind, but I can guess. I'm guessing that the real me changed the controls to make the spinner go faster." He chuckled darkly. "After all, it's fun to create a little chaos."_

" _Who are you, the Joker?" I spat. "You psychopath! What else do you know you've done?"_

" _Oh, I don't know." Mal said casually. "I might have crushed Sam's game console or stolen whatever Sierra had taken..although I might end up giving it back to her...broken." He scowled. "Stop asking me questions. You'll have to ask the real me, although I doubt either of us will give you an answer if you keep speaking to us like that." He brought his face close to mine, almost nose to nose. "You will speak to your master with respect, got that?" he whispered._

 _I looked at him defiantly. "I'm not fourteen any more, and I refuse to address you as anything but your name. You don't own me."_

" _Maybe not," Mal said thoughtfully, "But I will. And when I've won the million and finished with you, you'll be my possession until you die. But don't worry," he smirked, "You'll have company. I think I'll have you and Zoey as my two slaves."_

 _I scowled. "I swear, you won't do that to me! And Mike's stronger than he was – he'd never let you hurt Zoey!"_

 _Mal laughed darkly. "Sorry, doll face, but Mike's not as strong as he was last time you met him. Not even his feelings towards that little redhead can save anyone."_

" _Leave me alone!" I finally snapped. "According to you, I'm going to have to face you in reality sometime, so I'd like to have some time to myself."_

" _Fair point." Mal shrugged. "But I don't like having to follow orders from someone who should be taking orders. I think you'll be facing a lot of punishment in the near future. Toodles."_

And then I woke up.

Duncan was up late, but he came downstairs in a surprisingly good mood. "Hey. Spend the night having a good cry into your pillow?" I teased.

"Ha ha." Duncan said dryly. "Bailey, have I ever cried, in all the time you've known me?"

I paused. "Once, I think. So you didn't cry? Scott's not around – no one would have known."

Duncan shrugged. "After last night, I figured it out. Gwen's right. There's nothing really left for us. We still have fun together, sometimes, but never as a real couple. I can't remember the last time we did anything like that – Gwen will barely touch me with a ten-foot pole, and it feels way too awkward if I try anything. I can't have a girlfriend who only wants to do friend stuff."

I looked at him. "Was I any different from Gwen?" I asked.

"Bailey, you were completely different." Duncan said seriously. "You remember why I broke up with you, don't you?"

"You were interested in someone else." I recalled.

"There was nothing wrong in our relationship." Duncan said. "Until I met that girl. Then whenever we made out, I started imagining her, and I truly didn't want to hurt you, so I had to."

I was glad Duncan had opened up to me. He rarely did that to anyone, but I loved it whenever he did to me, because it made me feel good – one of the people he actually trusted not to laugh at him if he appeared anything less than tough. Our conversation stopped being serious after that point, anyway.

Heather finally confronted Alejandro about faking his paralysis. "Me and Bailey saw you – you were able to move in such a way that we could tell you weren't paralyzed!"

I decided to work with her. "Look, Alejandro, we know you were lying about the paralysis. I'm not going to ask why – I have a pretty good idea of it. Maybe you should just stand up?"

Alejandro hesitated, then he stood up. On his feet. "My legs _were_ asleep earlier on." he said defensively. "I only realized that I had feeling back in them when I was able to move them on the obstacle course, and I still wasn't sure. I wasn't lying."

At least it was out now, and the rest of the team didn't have to feel sorry for him any more. Finally, he'd dropped the act and just walked like the rest of us.

After that, Duncan and I spent the whole day hanging out together. Just as friends. There was no challenge, or so we thought.

At sunset, Chris' voice echoed through the camp. "Evening, campers! Gather around the starting line for a big announcement!"

Scott was brought back to camp once we were assembled, but he was back and ready for the challenge.

"Good news, you guys!" Chris said brightly. "As a special treat, it's time for an extremely dangerous nighttime challenge!"

"How is this good news?" Gwen demanded.

"Entertainment value, hello? This one is gonna be ratings gold!" The challenge was like last season's buried treasure episode – I think that might've been the one with Gwen in it, actually. We had to race to the other end of the island, with the first team with all members across the finish line winning. But tonight, there was a blue harvest moon, which meant the animals were all going to be acting strange.

Luckily, as we won the last challenge, we got a map with the quickest route across the island. The Heroes had to wear hats made of bacon and tails made of sausages.

"This will be a piece of cake." Heather said confidently.

Alejandro gave a sigh and said in a superior tone, "You mean a piece of _pie_."

"Listen, you-" began Heather, but by that time, we had to start running.

It was about half an hour before the light of the moon changed. It was normal at first, but after the first half-hour, we were cast in a blue light, which made my eyes feel strange. Then we ran into an alligator, who was...wagging its tail like a dog.

"Awww, isn't that cute?" gushed Lindsay. "I think he wants to be friends!" She crouched down and patted the alligator. Its tail wagged faster.

"And...no one is going to stop her?" I said to no one in particular. "Is it safe?"

"I'm sure she'll be all right," Alejandro said, glancing up at the sky. "From what I've deducted. This moon is like no other – it must be causing the animals to become their opposites."

"Wow, Alejandro, you're SO smart!"

I didn't say that. For a moment, I looked over to see if Lindsay had spoken, because it sounded like something she would say, even though the voice was clearly a bit more grounded, not so airy.

Finally, I set my eyes on the raven-haired ice queen. Heather's grey eyes were wide and sparkly, and she was smiling sweetly. The next second, she joined Lindsay on the ground with the cuddly alligator. Alejandro shuddered at the sight.

I looked around at the rest of my team. So if Heather was affected by the moon, why was everyone else normal? Duncan had his neutral "I-don't-care" expression on his face, Alejandro was serious and focused, Scott looked weirded out, and Lindsay was cheerful and bubbly. How weird.

We didn't have enough time to do anything, though, because a ton of rabbits came and tried to attack us at that moment. Duncan and I had enough sense to get away, but Scott folded his arms and spoke with bravado. "I'm not going to be taken down by a gang of bunnies." Seconds later, "Help! I'm being taken down by a gang of bunnies!"

"Hurry, there's no time to waste!" Alejandro called to the rest of our group, running. We followed him, except for the girls. "Hurry up, Heather, you have the map!"

Heather grabbed Lindsay's hand and pulled her along as she followed us. "Yay, running!" she called out. "Good work, guys, we're halfway to the finish line!" She skipped along. "This is fun!"

"I guess this means Heather's an animal." I muttered to Duncan.

He snickered. "I always suspected she wasn't completely human. Maybe her mom's a coyote or something." We both laughed.

Finally, we came to a rickety swing bridge, and all of us hung back, a little afraid. Well, sort of.

"Come on, guys!" Heather encouraged, although she didn't cross herself. "Nothing to be afraid of!"

"Except you." Alejandro muttered.

"Maybe someone _brave_ should cross it first and make sure it's safe!" Heather continued in her bubbliest voice.

"I'll do it!" Scott volunteered. "Back home, we have a special way to cross these bridges." He cleared his throat importantly...and started screaming. He didn't stop until he'd crossed the bridge. "Like I said," he called, "Nothing to it?" Then he glanced at something in the darkness, and called "Uh...are beavers normally nice or normally evil?" The beaver not only attacked him, but also gnawed at the bridge's ropes, so it slipped sideways. Luckily, it was more interested in Scott, though.

"Good job, keep it busy!" called Alejandro. He looked at the rest of us. "Shall we go?"

The five of us carefully began to cross, edging our way. I got to the end first and jumped down, but just as I did, a plank broke further up and Heather screamed as she nearly fell. Alejandro managed to grab her wrist before it happened, luckily.

I heard her from the other side of the bridge. "I _knew_ you still cared!"

As Duncan got down, I whispered it to him. "Did you hear that? Why was Heather faking?"

Duncan shrugged. "You know Heather. She was probably just doing it to throw people off."

I giggled. "Poor Lindsay. She'll be sad when she realizes Heather was only copying her for the night. If she even does."

The beaver was still gnawing at Scott when we got across, so that gave me an idea. I pulled it off Scott and onto the bridge. Soon, it was impossible to cross the chasm.

"Now the other team can't use the bridge!" Alejandro exclaimed, smiling at me. "Brilliant plan, Bailey!"

"Thanks." I mumbled, looking at the ground. I had to admit, that guy had a great smile. But, as I reminded myself, so did Duncan, and I liked him better.

Heather was quiet for the rest of the sprint to the finish.

We won easily. It took about ten more minutes for the Heroes to arrive, and then the moon changed, and suddenly Mike stopped running, looking around and asking "How did I get here?"

There was an elimination for the Heroes that night before we could go back to the spa hotel, even though it was getting late.

Gwen was voted off, but she didn't mind. She even smiled at her team. "Thanks." was all she said, but it made me wonder. Had she told them to vote her off, because she knew that if she tried to quit, Chris would just make her switch back to our side or something stupid like that?

As we walked back to the hotel, I talked to Duncan. "So...are you going to miss Gwen?"

Duncan looked at me in surprise. "She dumped _me,_ not the other way around. Duh, I'm going to miss her. Besides that, she's still one of my oldest friends."

"What about me?" I asked playfully, taking a step closer.

Duncan looked at me warily. "Um, yeah...Bailey, what exactly are you doing?"

"May I?" I asked, dropping my voice to a more seductive tone.

Duncan's blue eyes lit up in realization, but he said "Bailey, I don't think that's really a good idea when I only just broke up with my last girlfriend."

I leaned in closer. "And does that mean you don't want to?"

"Of course I want to, but-" I didn't let Duncan finish. The kiss wasn't long or anything, but it was still on the lips.

But I regretted it the minute I broke away. "Um, sorry." I mumbled. "Maybe I shouldn't have done that."

Duncan paused. "Bailey-" he began, but I set off quickly. I didn't want to talk about the kiss. Not then. What was he going to say about it?  
I collapsed into bed early that night. That race through the island had left me beat.

 **So, Gwen's gone. How about that? Okay, I know the kiss scene was rushed, but it needed to be there. Plot point alert! What did Duncan think about the kiss? What was he going to say to Bailey? Tune in next time!**

 **Next chapter: A disturbing dream, followed by some sweet moments.**


	7. Chapter 7: Stolen Statue

**Continuing!**

 **Warning: The dream is in italics. Mentions of lesbianism.**

 **Thanks for reviewing, Bloodylilcorpse, queenoftrouble, Katie Grimm, AvrilLavigneFan2001 and the guest reviewer.**

I had another nightmare, but this time, it wasn't like the others...

 _I found myself lying in a double bed in a large windowless room. The walls were grey stone, but the ceiling and floor were light colours, making it a little less dark. A ring of pink lights were on the ceiling, making it easier to see._

 _My covers were black silk, and on closer inspection, I realized I was wearing a blood red ensemble – a red onepiece that only came down enough to cover everything it needed to cover, but showed a lot of cleavage and had just criss-crossed net on the back and front, showing everything from below the chest to waist-length._

 _As I saw this, I heard a sigh from next to me. In another double bed, this one with red sheets, a girl with scarlet hair sat up. She wore the same clothes as me, only in black. Then she turned to face me, giving me a shockingly familiar sweet smile. "Morning, Bailey." she said softly._

" _Zoey?" I gasped. "What...what's going on?"_

 _She didn't have time to answer, but I saw her form tense as the door opened. The man of my nightmares came in, in all black this time. "Good, you're both awake." he said in his deep demonic voice. "Now, do you two want to actually eat something this morning?"_

 _Zoey nodded, so I did too._

 _Mal looked thoughtfully at us. "All right." He looked at Zoey. "Lie back, little Red. It'll be your turn next." Zoey obediently lay there in the bed. Mal directed his gaze at me. "Get into her bed with her, doll face. Make out and scissor. If you've pleased her enough after ten minutes, you get to eat."_

 _I scowled. "No way! It'll be a cold day in Hawaii before I do anything to another girl under your orders."_

 _Mal put his hands on my shoulders, leaning into my personal space bubble. "Oh yes? Well, it's going to be a cold day right here if you don't do as I say. You're my slave-girl, and if you don't do it, you can go to the icebox for the day again. And on top of that, if you don't do it, you don't get anything to eat all day." He folded his arms. "I'm getting impatient, doll face. Take the chance while you still can and do the smart thing."_

 _I wanted to cry as I got out of my bed and went over, straddling Zoey carefully. She actually did cry as I kissed her, stroking her hair and trying hard to pretend I wasn't being forced to do this with a girl I barely knew. As I went further, her sobs became little gasps, and I knew what was happening. I had to get it over with._

 _After a few minutes, Zoey screamed and something squirted out of her._

" _That was easy for you." Mal laughed darkly. "All right, Bailey, you get to eat. Zoey?"_

 _Zoey raised her head. "Yes, Master?"_

" _Return the favour, but use your fingers instead. She likes that."_

Luckily, the dream finished there, and Zoey hadn't touched me before I woke up, but still. I felt tainted and shamed, although I was lying in my bed, dry, in modest pyjamas. And in a single bed nearby, Lindsay lay, asleep and unsuspecting. No Zoey, no revealing outfit, just my room in the spa hotel. Still, I didn't know how I would be able to even look at Zoey when I next saw her. And I wondered – why did that dream feel so real? That dream had felt more like a memory than anything. I couldn't imagine that it would really happen to me – even then, I hadn't properly felt things, like I could only faintly feel something when I had to kiss Zoey, but the situation felt real. At least, I rationalized, Mal probably wasn't back at all, and the couple of times I thought I'd seen him were just coincidence.

All the same, I took my time showering that morning. Partly because of that, and partly because I wasn't sure if I wanted to face Duncan after the kiss.

But I was pretty lucky. After I was dressed and had eaten a stack of pancakes (and they tasted a lot better than Chef's), Duncan approached me. "We need to talk." he said, basically dragging me into his room in the hotel. Figures – Scott had been in exile for the last couple of days, so he wasn't around and Duncan had the room to himself.

"You didn't give me a chance to say anything last night." Duncan began. He got a little smirk on his face. "Kind of ironic, since you were obviously trying to get back with me before that."

"I wasn't!" I defended myself automatically. "Just because I kissed you-"  
"Whatever." Duncan dismissed. "You still like me, I can tell."

I shrugged, trying to play it off. "Sure, I like you. And I may think you're hot. But that doesn't necessarily mean I want to go out with you again."

"Well, that's too bad." Duncan muttered with fake sadness. "Cause, you know, if you'd said you did, I would've been able to tell you that you're the only girlfriend I've had in the past three years that's actually felt like a girlfriend and a best friend, and not just one or the other. And that's something I really like."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying you want me back?"

Duncan just shrugged. "Maybe. But you don't care, do you? Because you don't want to go out with me again, you said."

"You're doing this to torture me, aren't you?" I said impatiently. "Maybe I did want you back. I like spending time with you. And I would really, really like to be your girlfriend again."

Duncan didn't waste words. He just spun me around and then kissed me. "Next time we lose, we vote off Lindsay, right?" he whispered. "Then the next time we're in here, I'll come stay in your room."

I giggled in anticipation. "Definitely!"

I went to the confessional. "I can't believe it! Duncan actually wants me back! To be honest, I forgot how it felt, but I don't think there's anything that could be better about the season...except maybe the million dollars."

After all that, I was feeling pretty mellow about the challenge, although I was a bit suspicious when Chris declared that we were going to the "Fun Zone".

"What's the catch?" Heather asked. "Is the fun zone just a building that's on fire?"

"Nope!"

"Is it a pit full of intestines?" Duncan asked.

"Would that be fun?"

"Well, it would be more fun than a library full of books from only the eighteenth century." I suggested. Then I paused. "Is the Fun Zone a library full of eighteenth-century books?"

Chris shook his head. "You've had it kind of rough lately. So I figured – okay, the _lawyers_ figured you deserve a treat. But if you'd rather do something else..."

"No!" we chorused. Whether the Fun Zone was fun or not, "something else" was definitely _not_ going to be fun.

"Fun Zone it is! Oh, here's our ride!"

The Fun Zone was on Boney Island, so Scott was just on the boat all the way both from and to the island.

"Ugh, I'd forgotten what a dump this island is." Heather muttered.

"Come on, now." Chris said. "Maybe someone will finally find that invincibility statue."

"I searched all night." murmured Scott. "There is no statue. Say it!"

"Yes, there is!" Chris insisted. "But it's hidden in the Fun Zone!" Where no one could get it until now. Ugh, typical Chris.

And wouldn't you know it, the Fun Zone was full of mutants from the last season, and the challenge was to be the first team to collect six eggs from the mutants and put them in our team's basket. Chris waited outside, only communicating with us via a screen.

"What is fun about that?" Mike asked.

"Uh, it's fun to watch!" Chris pointed out.

"Change the channel!" I yelled up at the screen. "I'd rather watch that stupid Western movie challenge than this crap! What's this one even based on?"

As I spoke, I suddenly realized it was sort of a similar to finding that flower from that giant Venus Flytrap challenge – the one that Lightning won in the semifinals last season, which got Zoey eliminated. I didn't really listen to what Chris was saying any more until his voice filtered through again. He was saying something about how the person who collected the most eggs would get a special reward. "I'd wish you all good luck, but it's bad for ratings. So, I hope some of you get really hurt. And...go!"

I saw most people on teams worked together – Sierra and Cameron, Mike and Zoey, Alejandro and Heather (who were acting suspiciously friendly), so, being protective, I took Lindsay with me, but after about an hour of looking, we hadn't found anything and came back to find that both teams had a few eggs. Still, we had more.

There was always someone guarding each basket. Sierra was cradling a hatched creature, keeping a watch over the Heroes' basket, while Duncan was watching ours. When he saw me, he jumped up.

"Finally!" he exclaimed. "Bailey, you take a turn guarding these stupid things. I've been dying to actually go out and do something!"

I frowned. "How come you ended up on guard?"

"Well, Alejandro was guarding them, but then Heather offered to guard them and he left. Then Heather got bored and wandered off, so I got stuck with the job."

"Okay," I sighed, "I guess I could use a break, but keep an eye on Lindsay for me, would you?" The ditz was currently plaiting one of her lustrous blonde locks of hair, spacing out on the challenge.

Duncan shrugged, and soon returned with a tiny egg. "Way too easy!" he laughed. "I didn't even have to fight for this thing! Some three-eyed budgie had it, and it just cried and wouldn't even fight when I took it."

There really wasn't much to say about the challenge itself. We nearly won, but Zoey and Mike brought a huge nest, and before we could get our sixth egg in, they poured over a dozen eggs into the Heroes' basket, winning (Chris only counted Zoey, though – she'd get the reward for collecting the most).

"Now, before we head home," Chris said, "Did anyone leave anything behind, that they'd like to go get?"

Heather quickly ran off, but when she came back, she was empty-handed and scowling. The minute we were out of the Fun Zone, she went to Chris and accused "You took it! I know you did!"

"I have no idea to what you are referring."

I had no idea what Heather was talking about. The only person who actually did take something out was Sierra, who kept the mutant that had hatched in her arms as a pet, calling the two heads "Cody 1" and "Cody 2".

At elimination that night, I decided to vote off Lindsay. There were six of us – me, Duncan, Scott, Alejandro, Heather, and Lindsay herself. There was only one person who wasn't a true villain, and couldn't hold her own. She was getting annoying, and there was no way she'd be any help to our team. So we were going to vote her off that night.

Chris tossed each of us our marshmallows, as usual, until only two people were left – Heather and Lindsay.

"And tonight's flushee is..." Chris announced, making sure to pause. "...Lindsay!" Heather got her marshmallow, and Lindsay stood up.  
"Okay." she said, looking miserable. "I guess I'll see you guys. Bye."

Chris looked over at the Heroes. "And who's heading to Boney Island?"

"I'll go!" Mike volunteered, and then walked away to the boat...whistling a hauntingly familiar tune. I looked at Duncan, and we exchanged worried glances. We remembered that tune well.

We didn't wait to see Lindsay get flushed. I followed the other Heroes, calling out to Zoey. "Listen, can I talk to you for a second? This is really important."

Zoey turned, looking surprised and uncertain, but she dredged up a friendly smile. "Sure, okay."

We talked on the grassy bank, just above the beach. "It's about Mike." I told her. "I don't know if you know this, but Duncan and I met in juvie. That's how we became friends."

Zoey nodded, but her eyes, which looked violet in the dim light, were confused.

"Thing was, Mike was in there at the same time as us!" I said seriously.

Zoey laughed, thinking I was joking, but then she saw my face. "Oh. You're serious? Mike was in juvie?"

"Yeah, but back then, he wasn't Mike, most of the time." I said. "Has Mike been acting differently at all recently?"

"Well..." Zoey said slowly, "I saw him trip Cameron recently, and he hasn't been able to summon his other personalities. He's been really worried about not being able to control himself, and I'm worried too. Sometimes I'm scared of him, and I don't know who he is, a lot of the time."

I nodded grimly. "That's it. It's happening. Mike isn't himself the whole time. There's another personality you haven't met – his name's Mal, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one who tripped Cameron, and broke Sam's Gameguy before. Only about a week after I met him, he broke my wrist, and then said he did it for fun and if I told anyone, he'd break both my arms."

Zoey gasped. "That is so out-of-character for Mike!"

"I know, I know." I told her. "But it makes sense, doesn't it? Sometimes I saw Mike, but it was always very brief. The first time I saw him, he stayed for seconds, and told me to stay away from him. But the thing is, Mal can imitate Mike's voice. Did you hear him whistling earlier?"

Zoey nodded again. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"What he was whistling – Mal used to always whistle that same tune whenever he'd done something harmful. He developed this weird...obsession with me, and he used to force me into a deserted room and beat me up. He said it was to heighten my tolerance for pain. Once he was done with that, he started..." my voice caught. "I'm sorry, Zoey, I can't say any more. But my point is, Mal is nightmare fuel. Literally. I've had nightmares about him recently, and he keeps saying that he wants me back as his slave, and he keeps saying really creepy things about you, because you're Mike's girlfriend. If that whistling is any indication, then Mal might be back after three years. And if he's back, he'll probably attack me and you first. Me, because I got away from him the first time, and you because he knows that Mike's trigger is you being put in danger."

Zoey paused, thinking this over. "I'll keep a closer eye on him, then." she said reasonably. She smiled. "Thank you for telling me, Bailey."

I went back to the cabins, and I found Duncan on the steps. "You don't wanna go join the guys?" I asked.

Duncan looked up at me. "Are you kidding? Scott's okay, most of the time, but Alejandro? I can't stand him, even now. Don't tell me you wanna go into your cabin – I mean, you're stuck sharing with Heather." He pulled me to sit down next to him and let me lay my head on his shoulder.

"Wish I could convince Heather to go into the boys' cabin for the night so we could get one side to ourselves." I muttered.

Duncan laughed. "Not in the cabins, though. If you're how I remember, you'll probably scream loud enough for everyone on the other side to hear."

I shoved him. "I am _not_ that loud."

Duncan chuckled. "I guess you might be right, some of the time. But that's when you're not with me." He winked.

I just laughed as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Does that mean Courtney and Gwen were screamers, too?"

"Courtney was." Duncan said thoughtfully. "Louder than you, actually – I seriously thought about investing in earplugs. I only did Gwen twice, and she was really quiet, mostly."

I gave a sigh. "Can you believe we're having this conversation? Talking about your girlfriends' responses to this kind of thing. I'm gonna turn in." I kissed Duncan goodnight. "See you tomorrow, casanova." I teased.

"'Night, ex and current girlfriend." Duncan returned with a grin.

 **I hope you liked this chapter. I am SO glad to get this far with the story, because from here on in, there's going to be more Mal outside of Bailey's nightmares.**

 **Next chapter: Fighting your fears, a betrayal, and Bailey sees a familiar face.**


	8. Chapter 8: Villain vs Villainous Victim

**Right, let's continue. And yes, I know I quoted "In The Dark Of The Night" from the movie _Anastasia,_ so yeah. Thank you for your reviews, Elizabeth Life Stone, queenoftrouble, Bloodylilcorpse and the guest reviewer.**

I did dream about Mal again that night, but after the dream where he made me make out with Zoey, I was glad for how tame this one was:

" _'In the dark of the night I was tossing and turning'," Mal's voice whispered into the darkness. "'And the nightmare I had was as bad as can be. It scared me out of my wits, a corpse falling to bits...then I opened my eyes and the nightmare was ME'!" He appeared at the side of my bed as he shouted the last word._

 _I glanced over at Heather, who was asleep in her bunk._

" _She won't wake in your dream." Mal assured me, continuing to quote. "'I was once the one in control of Mike. When he tried to destroy me, he made a mistake. I made each personality pay, but my little girl got away. Little Bailey, beware, Mal's back and awake'!" He began to laugh._

" _Well duh." I quipped._

" _I wouldn't use that tone if I were you, doll face." Mal said instantly, cupping my face and forcing me to look him in the eye. "I AM back now, and while I might be in exile right now, Mike won't be there to save you a second time."_

" _I'm not that little fourteen-year-old you ordered around any more." I said defiantly. "I'm seventeen now, and besides, I have people around who care about me, and Zoey and Cameron are around, too. They'll know if something's up."_

 _Mal simply laughed. "Them? Poor innocent Zoey wouldn't even be able to face up to it. And just because Cameron fancies himself as observant because he noticed Mike's other personalities, I'm not them. I can hide my personality." He suddenly knelt down so we were at eye level and wrapped his arms around me, one hand holding my head so I was forced to face him. "Remember, doll face, one word about me and you won't last the season." He paused. "And you better hope the real me doesn't find out that you blabbed to Zoey."_

After that, I woke up. We had green toast for breakfast on the cabin porch (not that I ate any of it).

"Mama calls this penicillin puree." Scott said calmly. "Never had a cold in my life!" He stuffed a whole slice in his mouth.

I gagged. "Excuse me, I need to go find something to do before you make me throw up."

I did some more graffiti, this time on the back of the confessional outhouse before I used it to make another confessional. I sprayed _Masochistic McLean Mayhem –_ a quote I'd heard from Duncan on an exclusive clip after he took the Drop of Shame on the third season for the last time. Then I went in to talk to the camera.

"I have a bad feeling about the rest of the season." I confessed. "At least I was able to get Zoey clued in. Now to win the show without getting hurt..."

Chris called us all to "head to the Chrisoseum, pronto! Today's challenge isn't gonna hurt itself!" I rolled my eyes, and went back to my team.

Sierra took her new pets along with her, and kept telling them off for biting her as she walked. "Ow! That's enough, you two – OW!"

"Um, Sierra, are you sure that you should have brought them back?" Cameron asked her nervously.

Sierra patted his shoulder. "They need a mommy, Cam, and I can't see anyone else who'll do it." She smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna make you be their father." She laughed. "As if we would ever be more than friends!" Cameron smiled, but then the purple-haired girl sighed. "I wish Cody was here – I'm sure he would help me."

Cameron smiled up at her. "I'm sure he's cheering you on right now, Sierra. And if you do need someone to take care of your, uh, pet..."

I didn't listen to any more (I was sure tiny Cam wasn't volunteering himself), talking to Duncan the rest of the way. But finally, we were there, and there was a boxing ring ready.

"Looking rough, Chef." Chris teased as his sidekick came back with the exiled competitor. "Have a run in with a big bad baby squirrel on Boney Island?"

"That kid ain't right." Chef croaked, and I looked at the spiky-haired teen carefully.

He went up to his team and said to Zoey "Man, are you a sight for sore eyes." But I studied him carefully. Mike's voice, check. Mike's hair, check. But there were noticeable marks around his eyes.

I shivered. It was true, what Duncan and I had noticed. Mal was back in control. And something told me that he'd be more brutal than three years ago.

According to Chris, the challenge was "No Pain No Game, with a pinch of Phobia Factor for extra zing." What happened was that we'd have two minutes in a boxing ring with a randomly chosen opponent – we'd spin what Chris called the wheel of misfortune.. If we won the boxing match after two minutes, we got a point. The first team with three points won.

Oh, and Zoey's reward for collecting the most eggs in the last challenge? She didn't have to box, and the Heroes got an extra point.

"But who's gonna watch the Codies while I fight?" Sierra asked anxiously.

"No one, if they value their lives." Chris told her. "Now, let's get ready to pummel!"

I checked out the wheel. Hmm...there appeared to be Sierra's pets, Fang, someone who looked like Alejandro, a spider, a mutant gopher, a bear, something I couldn't identify, and...Mike? I frowned. Weird.

Scott was up first for our team. He got Fang. Phobia Factor indeed! After an initial scream, Scott just went blank and unresponsive. Fang won that one easily.

It was Sierra's turn. She gave her pet to Cameron to look after and went up. She was forced to fight her pet's mother.

"I'm not afraid of a few heads and a lot of teeth and a bunch of claws!" Sierra said defiantly.

Duncan spoke up. "What are the odds of both Sierra and Scott getting such personal opponents?"

"Astronomical!" Cameron spoke up. We all were starting to get what was going on.

Sierra jumped into the ring. "Bring it on, garbage breath!" she shrieked at her opponent, who won, and took her baby back.

Alejandro took the next turn. "I'll earn us a point." he said confidently. He spun, and it landed on the person who resembled him. Whatever it was, Alejandro's expression became horrified. "No! It can't be!"

An older, better-looking, more confident version of Alejandro appeared in the ring.

"Jose."

I remembered Alejandro mentioning his brother Jose in the last episode of the third season. " _Jose always has to win! Always! He lives to make me miserable! He punches me in the arm and calls me Al, just because I hate it!"_ And now, he had to box.

At first, they seemed evenly matched, but then Jose seemed to gain the upper hand. He hit Alejandro a few times, and dodged every punch. Jose's eyes flickered towards Heather for a moment, and then he looked back at his opponent and teased "Your technique is almost as embarrassing as the way your girlfriend with the unnattractive personality over there burned you on national television!" He started to laugh.

Heather, who was standing next to me, simply rolled her eyes. I looked at her. "You're not mad?"

My teammate just shrugged. "Why should I be? I'm not nice. Okay, well, I am a little mad, but why should I care what he says?"

Well, Alejandro cared. He made a huge comeback, punching Jose several times, yelling out that it was for calling him Al, hogging the bathroom mirror, etc, etc. Finally, he was winding up for the final punch.

"And _this_ is for calling any aspect of Heather unattractive!"

Jose was down. "Whoa, the Villains get a point!" Chris called out. "And now we all know how Alejandro really feels about Heather." He looked at the dark-haired girl. "What do you think, Heather? You wanna say anything?"

Heather narrowed her eyes, glaring at Chris, but when Alejandro came back, she managed a little half-smile, and choked out a "Thanks."

Cameron went next, but he pointed out that the game must be rigged, noting how everyone had fought someone or something specific to them. "The odds are too astronomical for this to be random!"  
Chris scowled. "All right, fine, spoil my fun. I _did_ tell you that this had Phobia Factor in it, after all. Anyway, just spin!"

The spider came up, and Cameron screamed.

"I thought you were over spiders." Zoey said.

"That is not a spider!"

It wasn't. A giant spider rose up...and proved that it was just an old aquaintance of mine in a spider costume. "Greetings, spider food!"

Cameron screamed again, but I grinned. I'd had two cellmates during my time in juvie – serious swotty Scarlett, and incredibly insane Izzy. And the latter of the two, the one I liked the most, was here.

"Hey, Izzy!" I called out. "Remember me?"

Izzy grinned and waved one of her spider legs at me. "I told you I'd make it big on a reality show!" she called back. Yeah, she had mentioned that.

Cameron almost lost. He was too scared to concentrate properly, and after all, he was weak to begin with. But he very narrowly got another point for the Heroes.

My turn. I was pretty sure what was coming up, looking at the choices on the wheel. I spun...and sure enough, the wheel came up with the silhouette of Mike.

I put up a show of bravery. "I'm not scared of that toothpick! I could crush him!" But deep down, I knew that I wasn't facing Mike. I was facing Mal. And the last time he'd touched me in a way that wasn't sexual, he'd covered me in bruises.

The man of my nightmares faced me calmly.

"I will win this." I hissed. "You can't beat me."

"Enough talk." I heard his reply, but this time, he didn't imitate Mike. It was all Mal, and within a minute, I was down.

"Wow, Mike got right villainous on that one, especially against someone who's actually a Villainous Vulture!" Chris remarked. "But, a point's a point. Heroes win again!"

The Heroes cheered, while we all groaned. And I knew that I was on the chopping block.

"Are you going to vote for me?" I asked Duncan.

"What? No!" Duncan said. "It's not like Scott kicked butt this challenge, either. Besides, I've already decided who to vote for. Alejandro and Heather may be totally head-over-heels for each other, but after today's show of defense for Heather, Alejandro actually approached me and suggested that I join him in voting Heather off. In fact, he used you as a bargaining chip. Three votes, and Heather's gone."  
I sighed. "Seriously? Is that the only reason he defended her, then? To trick her?"

Duncan shrugged. "Maybe. Probably not, but it was definitely one reason."

And as it was, Heather was voted off that night. She glared daggers at the rest of us. "Me? You voted _me_ off?"

She saw the smirk on Alejandro's face. "You...you...we were supposed to be in an alliance!"

As it was, he would have been the only one to say goodbye to her, if I hadn't snuck under the dock to hear what he had to say when they were presumably alone. "Now that I have avenged the shame you once caused me, the slate is clean. We can start fresh. I truly meant what I said during the boxing match. Despite everything, Heather, I do want to start over the next time we see each other. After all, we _are_ a perfect couple." Then I think Heather pushed him off the dock, since he landed in the water.

The last I heard of Heather was her saying "Let's do this." Not counting the scream as she was flushed, of course.

Oh, and since she was the only Hero who hadn't been exiled and had been given a pass from the last challenge, Zoey offered to be the one in exile.

 **There you go! Heather's elimination was close to the last one, but basically, Lindsay had to go early, and Heather really didn't have anything left to do, and I needed to make sure the point was across that Alejandro now feels free to ask her out properly, and to do that, I had to make sure Heather left before him. So I decided to change the winners so I could get rid of Heather early! Also, as you may have noticed, seven people have left, not six. This helps with me with later plans.**

 **Next chapter: Bailey shares her cabin with a guy, the merge happens, and Chris' mansion is intact.**


	9. Chapter 9: Diamond In The Ghettoes

**All right. You know the drill. Thansk for reviewing, Bloodylilcorpse, Elizabeth Life Stone and queenoftrouble.**

With Heather gone, I was on my own in the cabin. There was only one thing to be done.

"You know," I remarked to Duncan casually, "Now that Heather's gone, I've got a clear room in the cabins all to myself..."

Duncan raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"And I _really_ don't want to be alone tonight." I said, giving him a look of pure innocence. "I have nightmares if I'm alone!" (Granted, I'd had nightmares while I was sharing the cabin or spa hotel bedroom with Jo, Gwen, Heather, Lindsay...but I still didn't want to be alone.)

"And?" Duncan said innocently.

"Oh, come on!" I said frustratedly. "You know what I'm asking you."

Duncan laughed. "Yeah. I do know. But I can't answer it until you ask it." He paused. "I might as well tell you that if you want to have hot crazy fun, the answer is no – the walls are too thin, but..."

"No, I was just asking if maybe you'd stay on my side of the cabin with me, maybe let me cuddle with you." I finally admitted. "If I'm alone in the cabin, what might happen if Mal sneaked out of the spa hotel? Without Zoey around..." I let the threat hang, but quickly added "And I'd rather sleep in your arms than on my own."

"Well," Duncan grinned, "I guess I could work with that. All right, I'll share the girls' side of the cabin with you for tonight. Just don't start thinking I'm a girl."

It was lucky that the night was pretty cold, because otherwise, I probably would've laid awake all night. And although having Duncan with me was a huge comfort, it didn't completely drive my nightmares away. Well, 'nightmare' was probably a strong word for this one. But Mal was still in it...

" _Did you enjoy taking the fall last challenge, doll face?" Mal's tone was light and teasing. He was sitting on the cabin floor, leaning against the wall, and I was alone. I could still feel something, and deep down, I knew Duncan would be there when I woke up, but I couldn't see or hear him now._

" _You better get used to it," Mal continued, "Because I don't intend to lose this game...or you. I have big plans for the money." He paused. "What would you do? I mean, if you had the million dollars?"_

 _I stared at him incredulously. "You're asking me that? Like you care what I think."_

 _Instantly, Mal's visible eye darkened. "Remember, doll face, you can't speak to me like that. Show some respect for your master. Now answer the question."_

 _I didn't bother to correct him, although I had no intention of submitting to him, and said "I hadn't thought it through. I guess I'd save half and spend the rest. Depends on whether I have college entrance, and I haven't got my exam results back yet."_

" _I don't think you'll be going to college." Mal stated in a neutral tone. "You'll have full employment and never want for anything when I win the money. But you will still be mine, to do with as I wish." He reached down and touched my cheek, his touch feather-light for once. "Enjoy the freedom while you can, doll face. I'm just waiting for the day when I'll have you and Red all to myself." I shivered, and then he was gone._

Although the dream wasn't as bad as some of the previous ones, it was still a relief to wake up with someone beside me. And on that note, Duncan looked adorable when he was asleep. He still had a sort of "I-don't-care" position, but his face had this cute look to it, like he was a little kid again.

As I lay there for a few seconds, just looking at him, Duncan's eyes snapped open, and immediately, his lips curled into a smirk. "Staring at me, sweetheart?"

I tossed my head. "Like I can help it. You spent the night holding me so tightly, I couldn't even move my head to stop having to look you in the face." I teased back.

Duncan shrugged. "I know you wanted to. What time is it, anyway?"

I checked my watch. "Six twenty-five."

"No point in trying to go back to sleep." Duncan muttered. "And Chef doesn't toss gruel into the cabins until seven, so I don't have to be back on the boys' side for another half-hour. Wanna make out, Diamond?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Diamond?"

"Like your stud." Duncan explained. "Cause you were sparkly when I met you with the sequins on your T-shirt, your nose still sparkles, and you're a girlfriend I value. Therefore, Diamond. And if you don't like it, tough – I pick names for all my girlfriends."

"But you didn't do that when we dated for the first time." I frowned.

"I was pretty much just a kid. I only started nicknaming my girlfriends later on. But remember how I used to call Courtney Princess? I only give names to the girls I'm serious about. Anyway, you wanna make out or not?"

I pretended to think about it. "Um...sure!"

And later that day, when everyone was up and dressed, the boys on our team smirked at me. "Have fun last night?" Scott chuckled.

I rolled my eyes. "Mind out of the gutter, creep. Besides, I know you'd do the same if you had a girlfriend." Alejandro was about to say something, but I stopped him. "And you don't have any room to talk, either, because if you and Heather had actually dated while you were on the show, you would've shared her room if she'd been alone. Besides that, you flirt enough for all the guys left on this season."

Alejandro gave me a faux hurt look. "I am wounded, _senorita._ How can you think so low of me?" I laughed at him, and he dropped the act. "All right, I understand, you watched the third season. But in all seriousness, I haven't acted against anyone this season, unless you count Heather, which she brought on herself after what she did to me in Hawaii."

I shrugged. "Only because most everyone was either on the third season, or watched the third season. You know you can't get away with it, like you could on a season when no one knew anything about you."

Duncan and I also had fun with a bit more graffiti. Duncan did a skull and crossbones in purple, while I wrote _Dark eyes, dark soul_ around it. It was a very subtle warning about Mal, but since I had naturally dark eyes...yeah, it kind of worked against me.

I went to the confessional. "I keep hoping and hoping my dreams aren't real, but I have to face it. They are. I haven't even spoken to Mike this season. I just hope he can regain control."

About ten minutes later, Chris called us all together, along with Zoey, back from exile and looking fatigued but otherwise all right.

"I have a big announcement." Chris told us. "Today, the teams are being merged!" We all gasped. "That's right! From now on, challenges are for individual winners only, and everyone is at risk of getting the not-so-royal flush!" At that moment, Chris' phone rang. "I have to take this. It's my stylist." He walked away as he answered. "Yeah, how come my socks don't match my shirt?"

I looked at Duncan. "Alliance buddies?" I offered. "We might as well both be in the final two."

We shook on it. "Just don't whine when I win again!" Duncan grinned.

"Buy me a tattoo with some of the money and I'll think about it." was my reply. I kind of wanted a cute tattoo on my shoulder, maybe a diamond to match my nose and the name Duncan had given me. Or three bars, to symbolize juvie, and the promise I'd made myself that I would never go there again.

Zoey, Cameron and Mal were in their own alliance, although I could see from Zoey and Cameron's faces that they weren't sure who he really was. I guessed Zoey had told Cameron what I told her.

Alejandro, Scott and Sierra were all ally-less. I thought about it and then called out "Hey, Sierra!"

The purple-haired girl smiled and came over. "Hey!" she said in a bubbly tone. "It's Bailey, right? I've been making a blog for you from my SmartPhone!" She showed me the screen, and I saw the words " _All-Stars new girl: Bailey, the Lawless Artist."_

I scowled. "You gave me a label?"

"Everyone on this show has one!" Sierra said defensively. "Even I have one!" She tapped away on her SmartPhone, then showed me a Total Drama website with links to all her blogs. "See?" Every single link had below it: " _Managed by: Obsessed Uber-Fan"._

Anyway, I didn't get a chance to ask Sierra to be in our alliance. She asked Cameron, and was pretty much accepted, although it looked like that might be temporary.

Chris came back. "Guy thinks I'm colourblind." he muttered. "As if!" Then he told us that the challenge was a boat race, or regatta, around the island's perimeter. There were boats at the dock, and they were first come, first serve. The first person back at the dock got the spa hotel for the night and immunity. "Starting...now!"

I ran as fast as I could. "Hurry up, Duncan, let's go!" I called back to him, running much faster than he could.

Alejandro was the only one faster than me. He grabbed one of the speedboats, so I jumped onto the other one and waited for Duncan to join me. The minute he did, we zoomed off, just as Mal reached the dock.

Chef did cause some problems for us, as he dropped coconuts, and then dynamite on us, but luckily, Duncan put out the stick of dynamite and the coconuts were only a temporary problem. In fact, we passed Alejandro, who had some trouble with the boat. Mal passed us on another boat, actually better than ours, and Zoey, Cameron, Sierra and Scott on a raft. We ended up in the lead, after Zoey tried to bring out the real Mike by putting herself in danger, and Mal went to save her. That gave me a glimmer of hope – I could see that it was still Mal by the marks around his eyes, but maybe, just maybe, Mike still had some influence over his actions.

Finally, we passed the finish line. "Bailey wins it!" Chris announced.

I narrowed my eyes. "Just me?"

"Only one winner." Chris grinned. "Technically, you were closer to the front of the boat, so you crossed the finish line first."

We were followed closely by Alejandro, then Mal and Zoey. Finally, Sierra, Cameron and Scott were last. They'd used Fang as a motor early on, by making Scott bait, but eventually, things had happened, and they'd lost their motor. And Scott was really mad at Cameron. I actually saw Sierra yelling at Scott in defense..

"You dare hurt Cam, and I'll hurt you!" she screeched. "No one touches my friends!"

Chris had that camera grin on his face as we all stood on the dock. "Bailey, as winner of the challenge, you get a free night in the spa hotel, and you can take one person with you."

I grinned. "Nice." I turned to my boyfriend. "Duncan, you coming?" The two of us high-fived.

That night, no one was exiled, as a reward for making it to the merge. Still, it was time to vote. I voted against Mal, no question. I just wanted him as far away from Zoey and I as possible. Sure, he could wreak havoc on the world, but at least he had no special targets, and maybe he'd be locked up again by the time I got back on the mainland.

"Well, I believe this is a first!" Chris commented. "The votes have been tabulated, and it's unanimous!"

I grinned, but as Chris spoke, my expression slowly changed. "Tonight's Flush of Shame recipient is...Cameron!"

"WHAT?!" cried Cameron. "How can it be unanimous? I didn't vote for myself!"

"I didn't vote for him, either!" Zoey added.

Sierra threw her arms around Cameron. "Don't send him home, Chris, please!" she begged. "The votes are obviously wrong! We should vote again!"

"The votes have spoken, Sierra." Chris said, giving her a cross look. "I don't care. Cameron is going home."

Well...obviously the votes were rigged. Did Mal do it? With Cameron being pretty much Mike's best friend, it would make sense. It was sad to say goodbye to the poor guy, though. He would be missed by many.

I didn't have time to worry about Cameron, though. I wanted to enjoy myself for one night, and I was going to do so, dammit!

 **Yep, Bailey won a challenge! I wanted to give her a little time with Duncan...**

 **Next chapter: The camera room, a kidnapping, and a friendship with a certain superfan!**


	10. Chapter 10: A New Ally

**Let's head to the spa hotel. Thanks for reviewing, Elizabeth Life Stone, queenoftrouble and Bloodylilcorpse.**

I seriously considered skinny dipping in the hot tub, but decided against. Yeah, back when Duncan and I were only fifteen and dating, we'd taken each other's virginity, but we'd only just started dating again. I wasn't ready to do it again yet, and I definitely wasn't going to do it with cameras around, in a hot tub that other people would use later on.

That didn't stop us from making out in the hot tub, though. It was pretty fun.  
"Back when we were at Playa Des Losers or the Aftermath studio – yeah, we stayed at a resort nearby – Geoff and Bridgette spent every spare minute they had doing this." Duncan laughed. "Unless it was nighttime, and believe me, I don't wanna know what they were doing then. I tried to get Gwen to do it with me when I got voted off World Tour and before we were sent to Hawaii – Bridgette wasn't around – she was in Siberia or something, I think. But Gwen wouldn't do it, because she was too worried about what other people would think of her, especially Courtney." He grinned. "Despite Courtney being uptight, I bet I could've talked her into it, but still, who cares about them? You're much more fun."

I grinned back. "Get ready, guy. Bet I can get you begging for release before the night is out."

"Bet I get you that far before I do." Duncan shot back.

But although things got doubly steamy in the hot tub, before I went up to the bedroom were were going to share to continue our...uh...session, I found out something interesting – the camera room, where Chris got all the footage for Total Drama, and I caught sight of a DVD titled "Mal's Greatest Hits".

I put the DVD in, and suddenly, I was bombarded with images of Mal. He was breaking Sam's Gameguy. He was about to crush Sierra's SmartPhone, but she opened one eye, so he put it back down. He was tripping Cameron. He was showing several votes of Cameron, whistling the whole time. He was changing the controls on the spinner. He was sabotaging the boats...the list goes on. I even saw him in the blue harvest moon challenge, tripping Cameron again so he fell down a hill, and then trying to knock Zoey out with a bough (Luckily, Sierra called out to him before he could do anything). The way he smiled, the way he laughed was all so familiar to me, yet...worse. When we were fourteen, Mal had been...intimidating, to say the least. But now we were older, and "terrifying" didn't even begin to cover it.

At that moment, the cameras were on Mal, and I saw what he was doing. "Time to plant some evidence." he said, his real voice ringing clear. He put the votes under a top bunk pillow. " _Alejandro, how could you?_ " he mocked.

I rolled my eyes. No way was he getting away with that! I was only wearing a bathrobe, a bra, and panties, but I went out anyway, and luckily, I found Alejandro quickly. "I found the camera room, Mal, I mean, Mike, framed you for rigging the votes tonight, they're under your pillow, go put them somewhere else!" I babbled.

Alejandro missed a beat, taking in my jumbled speech, and nodded. "Thank you for telling me, Bailey. But what did you mean, 'Mal'?" he asked.

I gave a sigh. "It's one of Mike's alternate personalities. He's evil and manipulative, a hundred times worse than someone like you. There's a DVD called 'Mal's Greatest Hits' in the camera room, showing all the stuff he's been doing this season."

Alejadnro gave another nod. "I think you should make a copy of it and leave it somewhere else in the hotel so you can expose him soon." I agreed, and then ran back to the spa hotel, took the DVD, hid it, and sped back up to the bedroom Duncan and I had decided on.

Duncan was waiting for me, wearing nothing but boxers. "What took you so long?" he demanded.

"Sorry, I got a little...sidetracked." I admitted. "I found the room where the cameras are and I had to do something to make sure Mal doesn't commit any more sabotage like he did when he got Cameron kicked off. Anyway," I said more seductively, slipping off the robe, "Can't we just have fun now?"

Duncan's blue eyes went wide. "You know," he said, placing one hand behind my head and the other on the small of my back, "You're a lot prettier than I remember, Diamond. And more grown up, of course."  
"I could say the same for you." I teased as he leant in to kiss me.

I wouldn't explain everything we said and did that night before falling asleep in each other's arms. Trust me, it's not romantic. Once we'd gotten each other off only with our hands, we decided that was enough for such a stressful night and went to sleep.

I wasn't in the mood in the least when I woke up, due to my horrific nightmare. Yes, I'd had one. This one was worse than the one I had before, and just like that one, Zoey was in it. It took place in the same room, but in this one, Mal ordered himself to be serviced by both myself and Zoey. When I refused to do anything, he made me watch him reduce Zoey to begging for his touch, reminding me how I used to do that. " _You needed it, just as she does, don't you, Red?"_ he'd said, and Zoey had nodded, her face becoming the same colour as her hair as she admitted it.

Then Mal had dragged me to that place he'd threatened in the other dream – the icebox. He'd told me that if I cooperated when he let me out at the end of the day, he'd make Zoey "reward" me, and that was where the dream cut off, but I knew what he meant.

Duncan woke me by trying to French kiss me the minute I was awake, pushing his tongue in. "Stop it." I muttered.

"C'mon, Diamond, you didn't have a problem with this yesterday morning." mumbled Duncan, slipping his hands under my pyjama top.  
"I said _stop_!" I snapped, slapping his hands away. "I'm not in the mood this morning. I had a highly disturbing nightmare, and making out is going to make me feel worse!"

I got out of the bed and started gathering my stuff to go and shower.

Before I turned around, I heard Duncan speak. "Look, I'm sorry." he said haltingly. I knew he had trouble with showing his true feelings. "I didn't know you had a nightmare, okay? I'm not going to force you into stuff."

I paused, trying to work out how to respond. I wasn't mad, not really, but I just wasn't sure what to say. Finally, I said "Oh, who cares? Come here, you lug. I still love you, and I'll always love you, even though you can be an insensitive jerk...almost all of the time." I gave him a big hug. "I'm gonna go shower, and if we have time after that, I might feel better about it."

As it was, we were right in the middle of a makeout session after breakfast, when Chef's voice blared through the speakers, calling everyone to the spa hotel, and funnily enough, he led us into the camera room.

"Where's Chris?" I asked.

"Just hush up! You'll see in a minute!" snapped Chef. He switched on a screen, and on it appeared an image of Chris, with a table holding a cake and other party food, with a candle reading _100._

The image of Chris on the screen blew a party horn. "Welcome to Episode 100 of _Total Drama!_ " he exclaimed. "To celebrate, I have an extra-special one-hundredth episode challenge!" As he spoke, I saw a dark figure near the table, but Chris didn't notice. "I hope no one is allergic to rhinoceroses, or fire, or poison.." He continued as the figure, red-eyed and feral, was right beside Chris.

"Look out!" we all started yelling. But the stupid host wouldn't even listen to us.

He scowled out of the screen. "Please don't interrupt. I'm-" And then, the homeschooled creep turned feral freak Ezekiel kidnapped Chris. And Chef, who had just taken a gulp of coffee, accidentally did a spit take and sprayed it all over the monitors, and all of them stopped working. Chef turned to us.

"New challenge!" he bellowed. "Find Chris!"

Well, either we found Chris, or the show ended on this episode. So we accepted the challenge, as long as the winner got permanent residence in the spa hotel, immunity and got to choose who went to Boney Island.

Chef stayed in the camera room to try to get things working again, while the rest of us went out to the mines. Zeke was living there last season, so Zoey suggested that he'd taken Chris there, too.

We went out, with torches in our hands. "Huh, looks like it's still sealed up." Mal commented in an almost perfect "Mike" voice.

I paused. "There's got to be another way in." I decided.

I looked around at who I could team up with. Duncan and I were still alliance buddies, so we were already working together. Suddenly, Sierra came running up. "Can I team up with you guys?" she asked. "I don't have a friend to work with since Cameron left, and I _really_ don't want to have to work with Scott or Alejandro – and Mike and Zoey have each other and I don't want to interrupt them, but I know you guys."

I frowned. "What do you mean, you know me, Sierra? We never met before this season!"

"I know I haven't talked to you before, but I want to know you!" Sierra said earnestly. "Please let me team up with you!"

I looked at Duncan. He shrugged. "Your call."

I studied Sierra. She _was_ a little crazy, and a bit too bubbly for my taste. But she was strong and athletic, and very loyal. She could be a lot of help.

Finally, I smiled. "C'mon, let's find a way in."

Sierra gave a squeal and pulled both of us into a quick hug before looking for a way into the mines. We found a cave with a small opening and looked in there first.

We were wandering aimlessly for some time, until, suddenly, Sierra gave a squeal of "Look out!" and pulled me to the side, and Duncan had disappeared, although we heard him call out.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Zeke got him!" Sierra said, her voice even more shrill than usual with shock. "He's trying to pick us all off, one by one! I bet we'll hear other screams later on!"

It was true. I recognized Zoey, and then Scott, screaming faintly.

As the two of us walked, we chatted about game strategy and random stuff. "So where are you with Cody right now?" I asked. "Last season, you said he was a BFF and more than a friend. Anything further?"

Sierra gave a sigh. "Not yet." she admitted sadly. "But I'm trying to make that change, and no matter what, I know Cody's rooting for me every step of the way on this show! We still hang out a lot, and as long as I don't push for anything more, we have fun." She smiled hopefully. "I know Coderra will happen eventually!"

I raised an eyebrow. "You call you and Cody in a relationship 'Coderra'? Like how you called Gwen and Duncan 'Gwuncan'?"

Sierra gave a grin. "You know what my new favourite ship is? I'm still not sure whether to call it Duncley or Baican...hmmm...Bailan?"

I couldn't help grinning. "You ship me and Duncan? Really?"

"You two make _such_ an adorable couple!" Sierra gushed. "You even look perfect. You have the same scowls, nose piercings, similar hair – you just need some neon green and you guys would look like the best couple in ANY reality show ever!"

We heard Mal and Alejandro getting caught, too (I was glad Sierra was with me – if I'd run into Mal in the mines and I was alone...). As we walked along, we passed a river, and then streamers.

"I think we're close." I whispered.

"HELLLLP!" Chris' voice screamed.

The two of us ran onto the scene, to see the other competitors in a cage, Chris tied upside down, hanging over a vat of acid, and Chef in front of us with his pasta gun.

"Okay, you untie Chris, and I'll fight Zeke." I whispered to Sierra. I leapt on the mutated freak, just as he got hold of Chef's gun. It soon clattered to the ground, and I tried hard to pin the little guy down, trying to smash his head on the ground, again and again. I knew it would hurt, but we would never get out of here while he was conscious. But he was strong, trying to overpower me, and I was badly bruised once we got out of there.

"Get out the way, quick!" Sierra called, and I jumped off Zeke, just as she grabbed the pasta gun and aimed, hitting him dead centre. She got Chris down, and the rest of the contestants cheered.

Sierra was given the win, since she was the one to rescue Chris and deliver the final blow. I'd already made a request to her of who to send to Boney Island.

Chris was in a good mood when it got to the campfire ceremony, announcing that Sierra won. "She saved all of us, but most importantly, she saved _me._ So I'll honour the deal Chef made. The spa hotel is yours, Sierra. Who's heading for exile on Boney Island?"

I glanced at Sierra. She nodded and said "I'm sorry about this but...Mike." I think that surprised everyone, but when I looked at Duncan, he nodded. We both knew why I'd asked Sierra to exile him. We had someone else to vote off.

Chris looked at the votes before Mal left for exile. "I've tabulated the votes." he said, "And tonight's loser is.." he showed us one of the votes. "Alejandro."

Alejandro's expression didn't change. "I'm afraid that I won't be leaving tonight." he said smoothly, and pulled out...

The immunity idol. "I've got immunity."

Chris grinned. "Well, let's see, the person with the second most amount of votes is..." He paused. It could be any one of us. Finally, Chris told us.

"...Duncan."

I gasped. Duncan gave a sigh and stood up. "Sure. Get me outta here." He gave me a kiss on the cheek and whispered into my ear "Knock 'em dead, Diamond – you can win this thing."

"You're not getting a penny of my million no matter what, though." I teased. "See you on the mainland."

Despite Duncan being gone, it was still a good night. My only roommate in the cabin was Zoey, since Sierra was in the hotel, and it was nice to talk to her.

"Have you thought about what I told you a few days ago?" I asked her.

"I know he's been weird lately, but I think Mike's back in control." Zoey said confidently.

I sighed. "Zoey, you're only seeing what you want to see. There was a DVD in the hotel of Mal. He did all those things in the first five episodes, but it showed him sabotaging the boats in that challenge, and the way he won that fight challenge against me – he was Mal then, I could tell. I don't know, but I think Mike's trapped in his own mind again, and Mal's in total control."

Zoey gasped. "No! That...that can't be true! I even tried testing him when I put myself in danger during the boat race. He came back and saved me!"

I shook my head. "Of course he saved you, Zoey. He doesn't want you dead. No, if my dreams are correct, he wants you as a plaything. That's what he wanted me for, and I'm pretty sure he wants you for the same reasons. You're way too valuable to be thrown away – at least, that's what Mal would say."

Zoey didn't want to believe me, I could tell, but my words caused her to doubt her own resolve.

 **So that's the 100th episode! Tune in next time! BTW, I think I should explain. A lot of people think Zoey not figuring Mal out was sheer stupidity. I think the reason she didn't figure it out was because she didn't _want_ to believe that a psychopath was controlling every move her boyfriend made. It's not that she didn't know something was wrong, it's that she pretended not to notice because she didn't want it to be true. Anyone else agree that that explanation is more consistent to Zoey's personality?**

 **Next chapter: The Obsta-Kill course, Alejandro asking Bailey more about Mal, and Bailey's own fears being confirmed.**


	11. Chapter 11: One Less Villain

**Right, let's keep going! Thanks for reviewing, Bloodylilcorpse and Elizabeth Life Stone.**

With Mal in exile, you'd think my dreams would go away. They didn't.

 _At least I was still in the cabin. Zoey lay in the bed across the cabin from me, sound asleep._

 _As usual, I heard Mal before I saw him. "I'm hiding in the dark, my teeth are razor sharp,_

 _There's no escape from me, I want your soul, I want your heart...No one can hear you scream, maybe it's just a dream..." he sang from Skillet's song "Monster" (just switching pronouns)._

 _He stopped singing. "Risky move, doll face, getting Sierra to exile me. You better hope the real me doesn't find out that it was all your idea."_

 _I ignored that comment. "Looks like you've found a song that actually matches you. Congratulations, monster. Is Mike singing the right words to this song on the inside?" I scowled._

 _Mal appeared by my bed again. He leant down to whisper into my ear. "I've told you that you're not to speak to me with such little respect." he hissed into my ear. "I will own you, and when I do, I will not tolerate backtalk."_

 _He paused, his eyes gliding over my roommate. "And for your information, despite what that little redhead may think, her boyfriend isn't coming back any time soon."_

" _I don't believe that!" I whispered, trying to sound confident. "Mike was able to take control last time. Push things too far and he can do it again."_

 _Mal chuckled darkly. "You're not very good at following directions, are you, doll face? The real me is definitely going to have to put you in your place. And anyway, you said it yourself – Zoey in danger didn't bring Mike back, did it? He's never coming back." He locked eyes with me. "Watch yourself. Enjoy what freedom you have left. The season is more than half over, so I won't be waiting much longer."_

I confided to Zoey about the dream I'd had, which made her look a little anxious for me. "Are you sure that your dreams mean anything?" she asked. "I mean, even _if_ that Mal character is still part of Mike, it doesn't mean he's permanently in control."

"I'm telling you, Zoey, I know the differences between Mike and Mal better than you do!" I insisted. "I know you know Mike a lot better than I do, but you've never seen Mal, and I have. And Mike told me specifically that Mal has eyes like an insomniac. Take a look at his eyes today."

Zoey sighed. "Okay, okay. I know I don't want to believe it, but listen. I'll keep an eye on Mike and see if there's anything weird going on. Is that a good idea?"

I smiled a little. "That's as good as it can get. I just want you to be on your guard, Zoey, so if you are in danger because of him, you'll know it immediately."

Chris called us to the forest early that morning, ready for an obstacle course, and the last one there – Mal, since he was in exile – had to do fifty push-ups. That seemed easy enough. However, Chris' "Obsta-Kill Course", a harder version of the one from the TDI boot camp Chef did (that everyone had to do over and over until they could complete it in under a minute) was not. We had to go over the "Fun Tyres", then climb up a "rope slope", hopefully choosing a sturdy rope. Then there were the "snapping" monkey bars over a pond, and a sprint through the "duck and cover" zone. "Then, you're in for a real treat!"

Scott began to scoff at that. In reply, Chris made us all wear a heavy pack during our time on the course, and threatened a penalty for anyone who took it off.

At that moment, I saw Mal and Alejandro talking, and I crept closer to hear what they were saying. I just got there in time to hear Mal in the middle of what he was saying. "...or is it _Al_?" I grimaced as I heard Mal's real voice. Everyone else knew that Alejandro absolutely hated being called "Al", because it reminded him of Jose and being beaten at everything.

"Quite a warning coming from the guy who tampered with the votes." Alejandro replied smoothly.

Mal narrowed his eyes. "And you heard this from...but anyway, who's gonna believe you, the most manipulative player in Total Drama history?"

"True, I'm not known for being trustworthy." Alejandro said coolly. "And I'm fully aware that many people don't trust Bailey because they don't know her well. That is why I advised her to hide a DVD of evidence that she found, full of you at your shiftiest." He held up Mal by the front of his T-shirt. "Your hours here are numbered, pal. Or should I say... _Mal."_

Nonchalantly, Mal reached up, and I heard a sickening crack that I'd heard all those years ago, as Alejandro's wrist was broken. He'd just had the same thing happen to him that had happened to me.

"Wait!" the manipulative Spaniard said quickly. "My people have a saying: _Burrosmuertos no hablan!"_

"Dead donkeys don't talk?" Mal translated. And at that moment, I remembered that Burromuerto was also Alejandro's surname. Oh, wow. I kept the laughter away, while Chris was laughing at it more than anyone else.

"It's more poetic in Spanish." Alejandro said. "My point is, your secret is safe with me."

"But not so much with her." I heard Mal muttering. As Zoey came up, asking what he was doing, I approached Alejandro.

"What are you guys doing?" Zoey asked.

"Oh, Alejandro just tripped and I was just helping him up!" Mal said in his best "Mike" impression. He gave his best gap-toothed innocent smile as he let go of Alejandro. "You should really be more careful." Finally, he walked away, and I spoke to Alejandro.

"How could you tell him I saw it first?" I demanded. "I don't know if you realized this, but he's already planned to do a lot to me, and you probably just made it worse. And besides that, letting him know that you know who he is probably means the Flush of Shame for you!"

Alejandro smirked slyly. "Not necessarily. If we both vote for Mal tonight, we only need two more votes to seal the deal. You and I can tell Zoey, Sierra and Scott to vote him out."

Sadly, I wasn't sure that was going to work. I could already see Mal speaking rapidly to Zoey and I didn't doubt that she'd pass whatever he'd told her on to Sierra and Scott.

The course itself was a picnic compared to all the drama. Alejandro was trying to warn everyone about Mal, but got interrupted every time. Zoey and Mal, however, were telling everyone stuff about Alejandro.

So, the tyres basically had a ton of booby traps. Mal and Zoey were ahead. Then, they got to the rope slope, and Zoey fell off one of the ropes, but told Mal to go ahead. So by that time, I was just about level with Zoey. She was on a thin light rope. "Hey, are you allergic to dogs?" she asked.

I gave her a weird look. "That's kind of a weird question...but no."

Zoey smiled. "It's just that your rope is..."

I sniffed at it, and cringed. "Ew! Seriously?"

"I know, right?" Zoey chuckled, and I did too. "So gross!"

I shrugged. "At least it's sturdy. That red one looks like there's a part taken out of it that could break any time, and..." I pointed down to Scott, who was trying to climb a faulty electrical wire and getting electric shocks every five seconds.

Mal was currently in the lead, with Zoey and I right behind, and Scott and Sierra taking their time. Alejandro was almost last for a little while, but he soon passed Scott and Sierra, then Zoey and I, going straight for Mal on the snapping bars (named because of the turtles in the pond below, while Zoey and I crossed the bars at the top, avoiding the snapping turtles in the pond below..

And that's when it happened. Alejandro grabbed onto Mal.

"Let go of me!"

"Not without a fight."

And then, Mal gasped, and I recognized the lipstick and eyelashes, the high-pitched Russian accent.

I looked at Zoey. "What just happened?"

"Svetlana came out...but Mike said he couldn't access his other personalities." Zoey frowned. Then she smiled. "Oh well. That means he can't be Mal right now. If he...I guess, she, is Svetlana, he can't be anyone else!"

I didn't believe that. Svetlana disappeared in seconds, and Mal fell into the water, Alejandro taking the lead.

Zoey and Mal managed to get pretty far ahead of me, but I still beat Sierra and Scott.

The Duck and Cover zone meant basically that Chef shot leeches as everyone. Alejandro got hit several times, which gave Zoey the lead. Mal hung back for a while, but soon passed me.

And then, there was the zipline. Our packs had the ziplining equipment. Scott had ditched his pack, but everyone else got across, and the winner? Zoey, although I was close behind.

"Way to go, Zoey!" I heard Mal yelling.

That afternoon, before the eliminations, Mal came up to me and said pleasantly in his disguised voice "Hey, Bailey. Um, could I talk to you for a second? You know, alone?"

I stood my ground, and said "Sorry, Mike, but no." I looked around for a way out, and finally found one. A weak one, but better than nothing "I promised Sierra that she and I would have some girl time before elimination, and I can't let her down. Sorry again." And before he could answer, I ran over to Sierra and started asking her questions, trying to get her to talk about Coderra and everything she shipped.

I couldn't stop Alejandro from getting eliminated. "Awww, man..." he sighed.

"Gee, what a shame." Chris said. "Not really."

I spoke up. "Chris? I volunteer for exile."

Chris shrugged. "Okay, whatever. I don't care, knock yourself out." And Chef dragged me off to the island before I heard anything else. A Mal-free night may have been hazardous, but hey, at least he wasn't in it!

 **Oh, really, Bailey? What happens in the next chapter?**

 **Next up: Ice-cream, alligators and two of Mal's targets becoming more and more alone.**


	12. Chapter 12: Ice-Cream Burn

**Right, let's get on. Thanks for reviewing, Elizabeth Life Stone, Bloodylilcorpse, queenoftrouble and Katie Grimm.**

Sadly, a night on Boney Island didn't mean a night away from the nightmares.

" _Another bold move, doll face, refusing to talk to me." Mal was on the ground, looking up at me from the tree I was settled in. "But smart move, too. I'm going to take you the minute I get you alone. Or if Zoey's with you, I'll let her watch...and maybe join in, too."_

" _You're a sick creep!" I shouted down. "And that's why I hate you! Why are you making me do this?"_

 _Mal laughed. "Because you're beautiful, troublemaking, and oh so much fun to play with. I can't wait to break you, multiple times. I think you'll be even more fun than little Red." He sighed. "I wish I could get to you now. It's making me depressed."_

" _Just stop bugging me and let me spent my night up here in peace!" I yelled down. To my surprise, that's exactly what he did. Just before he went out of my view, he turned and waved._

" _Just remember, doll face. I will own you."_

It was a relief when Chef came back and took me back to the main island. Chris was just calling us as he got back.

"Hey, Bailey!" Zoey smiled. "How was your night on Boney Island?"

"Not bad." I shrugged. "I spent most of it sleeping in a tree."

"I'm just glad you got out alive!" Sierra exclaimed, putting her arm around me. "I was scared out of my wits when I went there, and I _know_ I have the strength to fight. I just imagine that they tried to hurt my Codykins, and the animals soon know that they can't mess with me. But you – I was so scared, I mean, you look so little, and-"

"And it's time you stopped underestimating me because of my size." I said dryly.

"Oops, sorry!" Sierra giggled nervously.

"Well, welcome back, Bailey!" Zoey smiled at me again.

Sierra and I walked together. "So, final five." I said. "Wow. I can't believe I made it this far."

"Wouldn't it be great if the two of us made it into the finale?" Sierra said enthusiastically. "Last time I played this, I got to the final four, so without Heather and Alejandro around, I'm sure I can get even further!"

I smiled. "It would be cool if we both got to the finale. I'd rather lose to someone I respected, if I end up losing."

Scott spent the time walking boasting about how strong he felt, but Mal and Zoey ignored him, while Sierra and I giggled.

Chris was standing there with two interns. He pointed out how skinny they were. "Totally forgot to feed them this week!"

Mal burst out laughing, although he was laughing in his "Mike" voice, so he didn't sound so scary. Still, it got him a concerned look from Zoey.

Chris laughed too. "I know. Funny, right?" Our challenge was to make them a sundae, and the first person who finished theirs and had it eaten by the interns, won. Sounds simple, right? Actually, we had to go to the most dangerous parts of the island to get the ingredients. First, we had to climb a snowy mountain to get three types of ice cream – Neopolitan, so vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. Then we had to go to a swamp for the cherry. The mess hall had the chopped nuts, but we'd have to avoid the re-built Drama Machine, which was out for blood. Finally, we'd have to avoid that fire-breathing flower from the last season, while we got the chocolate sauce.

"You are insane, Chris McLean." I informed him. "What, one year in prison wasn't enough to set you straight? Next time, try dealing with the psychopath _I_ met in juvie." I didn't look at Mal as I spoke, though.

Chris shrugged. "Actually, it was prison that changed me. For the better." He laughed.

I ran to the mountain for the ice cream, not looking back. I just had to hope my night in exile wouldn't affect my performance.

As a matter of fact, I got to the ice cream first, and was down the mountain before Zoey and Mal were at the top. Scott accidentally slipped on the ice and slid right past the ice cream snowman, and Sierra was right behind me.

I went straight for the swamp, looking to find the bowl of cherries. I managed to pick one out and stick it between the strawberry and vanilla scoops, when a gator appeared right beside me. I shut my eyes...but then I heard a thud, a splash, and I opened my eyes to an even more frightening sight.

"Bet _that_ hurt!"

I gave a sigh and said, pretending, "Good one, Mike, now get out of my way-" But before I could finish, he'd already plucked a cherry out of the bowl and pushed me out of my depth into the swamp.

"Oh, and by the way?" he added, still talking in a "Mike" voice, "I'll find that DVD you hid in the spa hotel tonight."

As he left, I had to swim back with one arm and stuck in second place, with Zoey and Sierra right behind me.

The Drama Machine was going straight for Mal when I sneaked up to get the nuts. But, bastard that he is, the minute I had them on the sundae, he spotted me and yelled out, "Hey, Bailey, watch out for the robot!" I had a hard time getting out of that room with the homicidal robot chasing me, and I heard Mal whistling his favourite tune, before he left.

I ran for the chocolate sauce once I made it out, but Mal still made it there first, I spent a good five minutes dodging fire, and by the time I got the sauce, Mal and Zoey had both gotten their sundaes done, and although Mal was hanging back, I didn't spend any time waiting to see what he'd do, desperately trying to beat Zoey to the finish line.

"Surprise!" Chris announced as everyone reached the finish line. "Change of plans! You have to eat your own sundae! First to finish wins immunity! Everyone else is on the chopping block. So, dig in!"

Everyone looked eager to eat it, even Sierra, who'd had to skip the sauce for some reason, and Scott, who'd put dirt on his sundae.

And guess who won? The one person who I wanted to vote off that night. Yes. Scott was close to winning, but me and the other two girls all got brain freeze, while Mal only just beat Scott, although Zoey was very close behind.

I wiped the chocolate sauce off my lips. "So what are the interns getting to eat?" I asked.

Chris shrugged. "I dunno. Not my problem."

I talked to Zoey after the challenge. "So...have you been watching your boyfriend properly and noticed anything weird?" I asked.

Zoey gave a sigh. "Okay, Bailey. He _has_ been acting weird. I'm not so sure that he's in control any more. Also, there was something Alejandro said when he got eliminated. You were already in exile when he got flushed, but he made this big speech. He was saying something about him not being the villain and there being a 'greater evil'. Then he said 'the truth is in the art'." She scowled. "I don't know why he had to be so cryptic about it. Typical."

"He knows about what I was up to. What he meant by 'The truth is in the art' is that I hid a DVD in a portrait of Chris in the spa hotel, on his suggestion. Thing is, there's so many that even I don't remember where I hid it! The DVD is called 'Mal's Greatest Hits', and it's proof that Mike is not in control right now. But we need to make sure he doesn't find it, because Alejandro was stupid enough to tell him that I'd found the DVD and hidden it somewhere!"

Zoey gave a sigh. "I don't know. Even _if_ Mal is an alternate personality of Mike, I'm pretty sure I know my boyfriend. And even if he didn't have immunity, I know who I'm going to vote for tonight." She paused, surveying me carefully, and then smiled kindly. "It's not you, though."

I took some time, trying to figure out who was the bigger threat. I wanted to keep Zoey around, even though she was a threat. Scott was pretty dumb, which made him less of a threat. That only left Sierra. Strong, fast, intelligent...yes, she _had_ to go. I was going to miss her, though.

Sierra got most of the votes. "I'm sorry!" I called to her as she floated in the giant toilet, bawling. "Keep in touch, okay? No hard feelings – it's just strategy!"

Chris pressed the button, and Sierra disappeared. The last thing we heard from her was a cry of "I'm coming, Cody!"

Mal was sent to the spa hotel...alone. Chris said that from now on, stays in the spa hotel were for individual winners only, and they couldn't take anyone with them (although, also, that meant no one would be exiled any more). Of course, Mal pretended to be sad that he couldn't take anyone along, namely Zoey, but still. If Scott went after this, it wouldn't matter who went to the spa hotel next, because if my dreams were right, Mal would have no qualms about what he did to me in close proximity of Zoey. And if she or I were the one in the spa hotel, he'd still find a way to do what he'd threatened me with.

At least, tonight, Scott was only a wall away. If Mal left the hotel and tried anything with me or Zoey, he'd hear. I just hoped I'd be able to vote Mal off before he could do anything more.

 **Poor Bailey! She's let this go on too long. If she doesn't do something, she'll lose a lot more than a million dollars!**

 **Next up: A discovery, an alliance, and treasure hunting!**


	13. Chapter 13: Nightmare Fuel

**Right, let's keep going! Thanks for reviewing to Elizabeth Life Stone, Bloodylilcorpse and queenoftrouble. By the way, the following nightmare is the most disturbing yet. You've been warned.**

That night, my "Worst Nightmares" list was topped, and it featured the same things as usual.

 _This time, I was in the room with the red and black beds and the pink lights, but this time, Zoey and I were both in the bed with the blood red sheets – and neither of us wore a thing. I was skinnier but taller than Zoey, so she was sleeping with her head nestled in the crook of my neck, and as I took in where I was, she opened her eyes and jerked up. "Morning, Bailey." she whispered softly. "I'm sorry about what I did last night. I didn't mean to get us both punished."_

 _I frowned. "Wait, what?"_

 _Zoey gave me a look of concern. "I wouldn't service Mal the way he wanted – I was too scared – so when I said that, he made you do that to me, and then me do that to you, and then made us sleep here together, and then...I think he made you look away, but then he used a paddle on me until I passed out from the pain, but I heard him saying you'd be punished for what I did too..." She sniffled, but managed to hold any tears back._

 _At that moment, the door opened. "Did I hear a rule being broken, again?" Mal tutted quietly. "Zoey, Zoey, Zoey...have you still not learned your lesson? What are you meant to call me?"_

 _Zoey cast her eyes down. "Master." she muttered._

 _Mal nodded, a smirk on his face. "And did you call me that when you were just talking now?"_

 _Zoey kept her gaze down. "No, Master, I didn't."_

" _And are you meant to call me by name, ever?"_

" _No, Master, that would be inappropriate."_

" _That's right." Mal said smugly. "And do you deserve to be punished for breaking that rule? Look at me when I am speaking to you, Red."_

 _Zoey made eye contact with him. "Yes, Master, I do." she said, although her tone sounded more like she was telling him not to._

" _It's your lucky day." Mal said. "I'm in a good mood, and I'm not going to punish either of you for that. But if you want me to stay merciful..." he paused. "Little Red, do what I told you to do yesterday. Kneel. If you do a good job, I'll let you put on some clothes." He looked at me. "Doll face, you have a strap-on. Give it to her from the back. If you do well, I might give you something afterwards, since you've been a good girl recently."_

 _I winced at his words._

I tried to block out the rest of the nightmare, which involved Zoey and I doing everything we were ordered to, and after both of the others peaked...well, the nightmare ended just as Mal was about to take the plunge into me.

I was woken by a hand on my shoulder. "Bailey! Are you all right?"

I opened my eyes and quickly gave myself a reality check. Mal hadn't gotten that far with me. Any kind of relationship between Zoey and I was nothing past friendship – and come to that, we weren't really friends – just friendly competitors. But speaking of Zoey, she was the one that woke me, and she was now giving me a look of concern.

"You were sort of... _writhing..._ in your sleep." she explained. "And crying out. I'm not sure what you were saying, but it sounded like you were having a nightmare."

I nodded. "Yeah, I've been having a lot of nightmares recently." I sighed. "I used to have recurring ones just after I left juvie, and they only just came back."

Zoey sat down on the end of the bed. "Wanna talk about it?" she offered. "Back when I was little, I had a lot of nightmares. When I woke up, I'd run to my parents' room and then if they listened to me about it, I always felt a lot better."

It was nice of Zoey to offer to be a listening ear, but there was no way I could tell her what was in my dream. It was too embarrassing. Yet, I didn't want to turn down her offer. I decided I'd just have to bluff by telling her a previous dream.

"We-ell..." I said hesitantly, "The nightmares are all Mal-centred. Is that okay?"

"I understand." Zoey said, although her eyes became more anxious. "You said you had problems with him in juvie, and don't worry, I'm not judging you."

"He always comes and talks to me in the dream." I murmured. "Usually I'm in the same place. Like last night, we were both in this cabin, but you wouldn't wake up in the dream. Then Mal would come and talk to me about what he was going to do when he got the chance. He keeps threatening to finish what he started with me...and he keeps saying things about you too."

Zoey's eyes widened. "Me? What would he want with me? I know he'd hate me, because I'm the one who's closest to Mike, but..."

"In one of my dreams, he was saying that you were cute, and that he wanted to break anything he found 'cute' or innocent." I admitted in a low voice. "And he said another time that when he won the money, he was going to force me to submit to him as a slave-girl, and that he wanted you as another slave."

Zoey looked horrified. "When you say slave-girl, do you mean that he wants you to do...you know...weird... favours?" I knew what she meant by 'weird'.

"Yes." I managed to whisper. "That's what he used to make me do. I despised it – and I was so lucky in juvie. He was going to finish it then, because he discovered that I was secretly in a relationship with Duncan, and I was just lucky that Mike was able to take control and stopped him." I sighed. "And I'm sorry to say this, Zoey, but you've got to face up to it. That guy you've been with for the last few days is not your boyfriend. He's Mal – you have to believe me!"

I could see the wheels turning. "The weird behaviour..." she muttered. "The leaky boats...him and Cameron disappearing during the moon challenge...using Svetlana when he couldn't access his other personalities...all those times when he was enjoying someone else's misery..." she looked up at me. "You're saying that back during that obstacle course, I should've listened to Alejandro?" I nodded, and she spoke again. "I don't want to believe it, but you're right. I have to face up to it! I mean, it does all add up – I can't believe I didn't put the pieces together already! I thought Alejandro was just making trouble. After all, it wouldn't be the first time." She frowned. "I guess I should thank him for trying to warn me."

I laughed. "Maybe he was just angry that Mal stole his place as the worst villain in Total Drama history. Worse than Scott or Heather." I wanted to lighten the mood, and it worked!

Zoey giggled too. "Right! But," she said, becoming serious again, "Is there a way for you to find the DVD and show me before today's challenge?"

I smiled. "Tell you what. You lure Mal out of the spa hotel today, and I'll sneak in and grab the DVD. Maybe if I see the portrait I hid it in, I'll remember which one it was. Ditch Mal somewhere far away from the hotel, meet me in the camera room, and I'll show you the evidence."

It was a tall order, but somehow, Zoey managed to buy us a minute of time, and we were soon in the control room, watching the creep of my nightmares.

Zoey gasped, staring at the images of Mal's sabotage and cruel acts. "So _this_ is Mal?" she whispered.

"I told you he was scary." I whispered. "See how he keeps pushing his hair up? His hair only defies gravity when he's Mike. As Mal, it always covers one eye and he's been keeping it up with hairspray for some time."

Zoey's eyes went wide as she saw Mal first taking control for good in the sixth episode, and proving that he was the one to get Cameron kicked off. "Oh no! Surely he hasn't been Mal for that long?" She turned to me. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you! I feel so stupid for not seeing it. Thanks for the warning." Suddenly, she gave me a hug, and I stiffened, not sure how to react.

I looked Zoey in the eye. "I want to offer an alliance." I said. "Not for the game – for us. We're the only two who know about this. We need to protect each other from Mal. And protect Scott, possibly. It doesn't matter who we kick off next, as long as we look out for each other." I held out my hand.

Zoey shook it. "Deal. We stick together for the rest of the game. Allies to the end."

This time, Chris called us to the dock. As we walked, Mal started talking to Zoey. He'd noticed her frowning, and falsely reassured her yet again that he was Mike. Zoey just smiled and said "Yeah. I wasn't sure who you were sometimes, but now I know." The second Mal wasn't watching her, Zoey looked over at me, letting me know that she wasn't falling for it.

Chris arrived on a boat, dressed up as a pirate. Chef was by his side, dressed up as a scowling parrot. Chris told him to lighten up. "You look great, and you know it." He paused. "You know, if you don't wanna be here, then – that isn't what I was gonna say!" But Chef had already driven the boat away.

Chris explained that he was missing his home on the mainland. "And I'm sure you four are too, so I've come up with a special challenge – your mission: To retrieve one of four valuable pieces of pirate loot."

There were four chests stationed at the end of the dock. Each of us would take one of them to find out what we had to get. First one to bring their item to the dock won invincibility. The person who turned up last, or empty-handed would be eliminated.

This was bad news. This meant that we had absolutely no power over who got eliminated unless someone stalled someone else in some way, but everyone would be busy looking for their own loot.

As the winner of the last challenge, Mal should've gone first, but for some reason, he decided to persuade Chris to let Zoey go first. Her treasure chest gave her an electric shock, and she was supposed to bring the Sasquachanakwa (yeah, basically Camp Wawanakwa's version of a yeti).

I went next, and got a major pepper spray. According to Chris, I had to find a picture of him. "I stashed a ton in the spa hotel, but one mysteriously went missing around the time of the blue harvest moon." Chris explained. "So don't bother looking in the hotel – I know which one was taken."

Great! And I was the only one who didn't know my way around the island like everyone else.

Scott got a boxing glove to the face, and had to find a diamond, which was being guarded by Fang.

Mal tried to get out of opening his chest, but Chris caught on. "Nice try, but the choice isn't official until you see for yourself." He found a snapping turtle in his chest, but it freaked out and ran away when he gave it a menacing glare. His loot was the long-lost original Chris statuette.

I decided to start with searching around the hotel, working up to the outside.

I heard the loudspeakers talking about Scott, and then Zoey, being near to their loot.

So where was the portrait? Well, remember that bear that stole one of Katie's/Sadie's outfits in the first season? Yeah, it was in their cave? Apparently when they'd been all happy and friendly because of the blue moon, they'd liked one of the pieces of art and hung it up in their cave. And it seemed that violet and black weren't attention grabbing, so I covered my sparkly nose piercing and crept up, grabbed the picture and sped out of the cave.

There were claw marks on the picture, but once I used some spray paint to touch it up, I got back to the dock. FIRST! Zoey was right behind me, but I'd won! I had immunity! And with Zoey being in second place, that secured both of us a place in the next episode! We high-fived.

"YES!"

Mal dragged Scott back, neither of them with anything. Scott was stunned, saying dopily, "Sorry, I would've gotten the shiny rock but the sea pig ate it." Okayyy...

"Uh-huh." Chris frowned. He looked at Mal. "What's your excuse?"

"Okay, I didn't find the loot I was assigned," Mal admitted, "But I did bring another kind of treasure – an injured competitor, your favourite!"

Chris perked up. "It's true! Injured players are some of my favourite things. Well played." He looked down at the former villain. "Scott, sorry, dude, you're going home tonight." Then he looked at me. "Bailey, you have the spa hotel-"

I didn't wait for him to competely finish. "Chris, I know you said the hotel is for winners only, but can I please take Zoey with me?" I begged. "She _has_ won a challenge and come second in the last couple, and I really _really_ want to share the hotel with someone. _Please_ let Zoey stay in there too!"

Chris sighed. "Okay, okay, Bailey, you don't have to whine on. You're a newbie this season, so I'll cut you a break. Zoey is welcome in the spa hotel for tonight."

Of course, the _real_ reason I wanted Zoey in the spa hotel was safety in numbers, but I didn't say that. Zoey knew it too, but after what I'd told her, it was for her safety just as much as mine. With Scott gone, there was only one possible way to survive, and that was to stick together.

That night, Zoey and I agreed to share a room, and by coincidence, we'd taken the same one when we were on different teams and sleeping in the hotel as a team. "I mostly shared with Sierra." she explained. "Gwen wanted to be on her own a lot of the time. I wanted to get to know her, but she seemed really depressed about something that she wouldn't talk about."

I sighed. "She'd only come back to the show because she wanted to make up with Courtney after the whole boyfriend-stealing thing in World Tour. But then you guys voted Courtney off first, and..."

Zoey sighed too. "Okay, now that makes me feel really guilty. I was one of the people to vote Courtney off. It was hard enough when I realized Lindsay actually _wanted_ to be voted off that night. It's just...I knew Courtney was a strong player, but she really wasn't friendly. Our team was a lot stronger when everyone was supportive of everyone else."

I laughed. "You wouldn't have lasted a day on the Villainous Vultures with that mindset! You must've been so relieved when you weren't the one chosen to swap teams with Gwen!"

For a few minutes, Zoey and I weren't Total Drama competitors, sticking together for our own safety. For just a sliver of time, we were just two teenagers hanging out together.

"We should keep in touch after the show ends." Zoey suggested.

"Sure." I smiled. "But before we start exchanging numbers, we have to survive."

"We will." Zoey said, trying to sound confident. "We have to."

As Scott was flushed that night, her words kept replaying in my mind. " _We have to._ " But would we?

 **Zoey's optimistic. She always tries to find the good in horror, and although she hasn't said it to Bailey yet, she's determined to get the real Mike back. Wanna see what happens when it's just them on the island? Stay tuned to find out!**

 **Next time: Terror, terror, and determination. And yes, I know I put terror twice.**


	14. Chapter 14: My Worst Fear

**So when we left off, Bailey, Zoey and Mal were the only ones left on the island...**

 **Thanks for reviewing, Bloodylilcorpse, Elizabeth Life Stone, queenoftrouble and Katie Grimm.**

 **Warning: MENTIONS OF RAPE IN THIS CHAPTER.**

That night, I couldn't get to sleep. Who could? I'd always known what the next day would bring me in juvie, even though Mal was there. I'd slept every night on the island, knowing that there was at least someone else (although admittedly, the days I'd woken up the most refreshed were the ones when Duncan and I were sharing the bed, even if I hadn't woken up in the best of moods, and he hadn't made the nightmares go away), someone who would help.

I guess I must've fallen asleep at some point, though. What happened had all the elements of one of my nightmares. It was shadowy, Zoey had disappeared and a terrifying silhouette was standing by the door. But unlike my dreams, Zoey's bed was left unmade. And there was a light coming from the door, which was ajar.

The silhouette, the man that had haunted my dreams all season, closed the door. "Alone at last." he said, his true voice ringing clear again.

"This can't be happening." I mumbled, trying not to look at him.

Mal simply chuckled darkly. "Oh, believe me, doll face, this time it's real. So sorry I couldn't come back for you earlier, but looking at you now, it looks like you were worth the wait." He leaned close to my ear, and whispered. "And I'm just _dying_ to finish what I started."

"Get. Away. From. Me." I said flatly, scrambling to get out of my bed. But Mal was still stronger than me. The minute he saw what I was doing, he straddled me and pinned my arms down, no matter how much I struggled. "Now, I believe we never managed to experiment everything we could do in this position." he continued smoothly. "As far as I remember, I didn't reward my dear slave-girl with everything I could by showing her what we could do in that position."

"I'm _not_ your slave girl. " I seethed, trying fruitlessly to get free. "You're a creep, Mal! Get off me!"

"But it seems she needs to be punished first." Mal continued, ignoring everything I said. "Let's see, talking out of turn, trying to disobey me, telling everyone she could find about me, not addressing me by my proper title."

I scowled. "First, I'm not going to call you that. Second, I know your real title – Mike told me that your name is just a shortened version of 'The Malevolent One'. Now, do you mind?"

Mal didn't seem to hear a word of anything I said. Well, of course he did...he just wouldn't respond. "Pretty pyjamas." he commented. "But I don't know why you wear them in this kind of heat..." Within seconds, he'd unbuttoned my pyjama top and tossed it aside. I didn't wear a bra in bed, and with my hands pinned, I couldn't cover myself.

"And it would be such a shame if someone ripped one of the pieces to shreds..." My pyjama trousers were instantly torn down the middle and also thrown aside.

I did the only thing left I could do. Scream. "HELP!"

And Zoey chose that moment to open the door, and after flicking the light on, she stared. Finally, she managed to find her voice. " _Mal?"_

Mal looked up at her. "Hello, Zoey." he said in his normal voice. "I hope you don't mind that I decided to come visit the hotel, but I had a playdate set up with your beautiful roommate, one that she had forgotten about. Care to join us?"

"Zoey, get Chris or someone!" I suggested. "I don't care if they see me like this if he doesn't get to do this." Zoey nodded and tried to run, but Mal got hold of her wrist and pulled her back. Then he pulled a piece of rope out of my case (I'd brought it in case I needed it for climbing or something), and tied Zoey's wrists to the bedpost. "So you don't want to join in this time? That's all right. I suppose Mike won't have shown you how this works? Well, now you can watch."

Mal pulled the covers off me, leaving me completely exposed, before using a knife to cut the excess rope, and using it, this time, to bind my hands to the other bed posts, and my ankles to the ones at the end, leaving me open and scared.

I don't even want to explain what came next. Zoey told me later that she was crying too hard to watch, seeing this monster that looked just like her boyfriend, committing one of the worst crimes ever. All I remember was a feeling of fire in that part of me, and Mal, not letting me try not to think about it, whispering into my ear. "You like that, doll face? You don't know how much I missed making you beg. When I win the million in a couple of days, I hope you've said goodbye to everyone you care about, because you'll be coming to the tower I'm going to have built. And don't worry...I'll treat you like a princess, instead of the slave-girl you are, as long as you give me what I want. And your friend over there will be with you – at least Mike has _some_ ability to pick the pretty ones." He continued. "Come on, slave-girl, I can feel your spasms. Scream for me."

I was starting to feel forced pleasure, but I was trying desperately not to show it. Duncan was right that I was the loud type, but I had at least a bit more control.

"Scream." Mal hissed. "And make sure it's real. I know you want this. Remind me."

"I'm...not that..." I gasped suddenly, before finishing my sentence. "...easy."

Mal started going faster, not stopping once he was done. He didn't stop until he drew a true scream from me. Finally, I was able to relax, although my mind stayed wary, and I didn't take my eyes off the psychopath for a second.

"It's too bad I wasn't your first." He sighed mockingly. "But I bet I was the first to feel you without a thin layer of rubber in the way."

He paused, and then murmured "I told you that day in juvie. I told you that one day, I would make you scream."

I looked over at Zoey as Mal withdrew and got dressed. "You feeling left out, little Red?" he asked a still-crying Zoey (Why did my dreams have to know exactly what his plans were and how he was in real life?). "Don't worry – you'll be next. Maybe when we're in the final two, hm?" Zoey didn't reply. "Oh, what's wrong? Didn't you want a friendship finale? Wasn't that your plan?"

Finally, Zoey looked up. Her eyes were still red, but now they were on fire. "How dare you!" she seethed. "I may be tied to this bedpost, but I won't waste a minute telling you what I think! You think you can just force me to watch as you...use and abuse...my friend, and then have the nerve to ask if I'm feeling left out? Well, you _won't_ be in the final two, Mal! Even if Bailey or I lose tomorrow, we know you're not the only personality left, and we _will_ find a way to help Mike come back. We know he's still in there."

Mal muttered something about Mike being gone as he untied me, but at least he left us in peace after that. I untied Zoey, and put on a pair of panties and my pyjama top. Zoey's burst of anger subsided, and I shared her bed for the night. We had both been shaken (and my abdomen still hurt) by the incident, and we felt a lot safer curled up together (Zoey with tear stains, and me racked with feelings of terror).

"Why weren't you in here anyway?" I whispered.

"I thought I heard footsteps downstairs, and I...I guess I did." Zoey replied softly. "I went to investigate, but he must've found a way to get past me, because I was coming up again, and I heard voices, and I got to the door just as you were screaming for help."

When we woke up the next morning in the comfort of the hotel, it was as if nothing had happened, really. I still felt shamed and tainted, but had I not woken up in Zoey's bed, I wouldn't have known it was real. We did all the usual morning things – showered, had breakfast, talked about trivial stuff...but we didn't talk about the night before. Not for a while, anyway.

Finally, Zoey spoke up. "Mike has to still be in there. I know he is. All we have to do is find a way to get him back."

I scowled. "Zoey, I appreciate that you're trying to stay positive, but it doesn't matter if Mike's in there or not, if he can't get out. There's no way we can do anything unless we find a way to get him mental care, and there's only one way we can do that."

"The million dollars." Zoey murmured. "All right." Her face became set. "That does it. If winning this competition is what will protect us, we have to do it." She looked at me. "If you win, you'll do it, too, right?"

"Spend it on getting help so that Mike can gain control again?" I asked. "I'll spend nine hundred thousand on it. On the first season, the prize was a tenth of what it is now. I think I have an excuse to keep that much and spend nine times as much of it on getting help. But I'm with you all the way, Zoey, don't worry. I'm not going to let that terror hurt you. What he did to me last night – it's worse than what came before, but I still had to endure nearly six months being his toy when I was in juvie."

Luckily, our conversation didn't go any further, as Chris' voice boomed out through a loudspeaker. "Greetings, semi-finalists! It's challenge time! Meet me at the Chrisoseum in ten!"

So, within ten minutes, Zoey, Mal and I were in a line, ready for our next challenge.

 **Sorry, this chapter will be cut short. The next one will most likely be short, too.**

 **Next up: A new semifinal that's based on two old ones, and a glimpse of several personality traits!**


	15. Chapter 15: Brain Battle (And Semifinal)

**Let's continue it! Thanks for reviewing, Elizabeth Life Stone, queenoftrouble and Bloodylilcorpse.**

"Today's semifinal is based on a couple of seasons. I call it...Trivia, or Triple Dare!" Chris laughed. "You will recall the semifinals of the first two seasons. In our Triple Dog Dare Challenge, our final three performed dares from the nineteen losers, with a sudden death elimination if a dare was refused. In our final challenge that became a semifinal in Season Two, due to the contestants tying, the contestants each answered a question about a contestant, or replicated a challenge. This time, you can spin this wheel.." He pointed to a wheel with promotional pictures of each season on it." And take a trivia question about a contestant, or spin the wheel..." He gestured to a wheel with the faces of the other twelve All-Stars on it "And take a dare."

"Are we allowed to change our mind if we can't do one of them?" I asked.

"Not if you take a dare!" Chris grinned. "And this time, no palming it off on anyone else, _and,_ you only get a freebie if you answer a trivia question correctly. If you can't answer the question, you take a death-defying dare. If you can't do the dare, you get eliminated. So, who's going first?"

There was a short pause. Finally, Zoey took a step forward. "I'll take a trivia question." she offered, and spun.

I remembered that she'd watched the show before her debut, because she mentioned it in the first episode of the fourth season. " _So stoked to be here. I've been watching Total Drama for ever!"_

She got Total Drama World Tour. "Going in elimination order," Chris said, "Who left the show first?"

Zoey paused in thought. "Eze...no, Duncan." she said. "He refused to sing, so he quit, even though he returned."

"Correct!" Chris said. "Now, as a follow-up question...what is Duncan's favourite movie?"

Zoey hesitated for a longer time. Finally, unsure of herself, she spoke up. "It's... _Bloodbath II_?"

"I'll accept." Chris shrugged. "Kind of disappointing that you could answer that. Hopefully the next one is hard enough so that I can give out a dare!"

I went up next, and spun the trivia wheel. This time, it stopped on Total Drama Island. Good, I'd seen that one a few times.

"Who was kicked off first, and why?" Chris asked.

That was the easy one. "Ezekiel, because he made sexist remarks about girls being weaker than guys and not as smart."

"And as a follow-up..what genre of music is Ezekiel into?"

Easy. "Rap." I said quickly. "The way he's always going 'yo yo, dog' and 'yo playa'..."

"Correct!" Chris says. "Come on up, Mike!"

The creep didn't bother to correct Chris, but he didn't attempt to act like Mike any more, leaving his hair covering one eye and talking in his real voice. He took a dare, and spun. The dare was from...

Courtney. Oh, this could be vindictive. She was probably still angry from being the first out. "Spend five minutes swimming in a tank with Fang!"

Mal, surprisingly, looked a little worried. But once he came back in swimming trunks, he seemed confident again. But as he got into the tank, I saw his face freeze, and his hair stopped hanging in his face. It didn't defy gravity – it lay flat instead of standing straight up – but...

He spent the five minutes fearlessly, punching Fang in the nose hard enough that the mutant shark was too hurt to approach more than twice.

When the five minutes were up, the personality climbed out, saying in a recognizable Italian-American "Joisey" accent, "Eh, that shark ain't so tough-" But then he gasped again, and Mal was back.

I looked over at Zoey. "Vito?" I whispered. She nodded.

Was that a good sign, or not, that Vito had gotten through? Had Mal been controlling him, or had he managed to get through by himself? Sure, Vito had given Mike the most trouble out of the four harmless personalities, nearly ruining his chances with Zoey, but anyone was better than Mal.

The challenge was almost enjoyable when Zoey and I were taking trivia questions. They weren't so hard. We both knew what Courtney's short-lived band was called (the Type A Psychotic Crazies), what DJ's dream date would be (going to the Central Park Zoo with Lady Gaga), and Leshawna's most embarrassing moment (she saw a spider in math class and screamed so loud that the windows shattered). We pinpointed Sierra's favourite colour (pink-purple, like her hair) and Harold's best qualities (his honour). Zoey told Chris what Gwen would do if it was the last day of her life (sketch the sunset) and I answered what Dawn considered her best quality (reading auras). Mal mostly took dares, but that was the strange thing. I knew Mal well. I knew he could never have done half of those dares alone. Vito wasn't the only personality that showed up – Svetlana came through the most, but Manitoba Smith made several appearances, and even Chester came up once in a while. After about five rounds, the guy suddenly chose the trivia, coming up with Total Drama World Tour.

"We're on to Episode 9!" Chris announced. "Mike, who was the person voted off, and why?"

I wondered which voice I'd hear, and boy did I get a delivery. "Lindsay, after losing the fashion walk-off tiebreaker with her and DJ after Team Victory lost." I looked over at the guy. No insomniac eyes. Spiky hair.

... _Mike?_

"Correcto-directo!" Chris grinned. "And the follow up question is...what is Lindsay's favourite memory?"

"The first time she saw sparkly lip gloss." Mike answered. But the minute he'd said it, he gasped again, and he turned back into Mal.

And so on. It was at the time of a particularly scary dare, about an hour later. Zoey and I had done a few dares by then, but at that point, the personalities all seemed to be trying to get through at the same time. I could hear them all.

"You...can _not_ do this!"

"Just give me my life back!"

"Lemme at 'im, Mike, I can take him!"

"We can hold him off just for a minute, mate, just get through to your sheila while you still can!"

We could hear Chester and Svetlana arguing, too, but suddenly the last voice had the last word. "Enough!"

Mike was in control. He looked at Zoey and I. "I'm sorry." he said quietly. "I know it's not enough, but I'm sorry."

"Mike?" Zoey whispered. "Is it really you? Like, _really_ really?"

"Yes, it's me." Mike said softly. "But...I don't know for how long." He sighed. "I can hold Mal off for a little while, with the help of my other personalities, but only for a few seconds. That's why I'm going to do this." He turned to Chris. "I forfeit." he said firmly. "I request that I'm the one to be flushed tonight."

Chris shrugged. "Sure. I don't care. As long as it's someone."

Mike turned back to Zoey and I. He looked at me first. "I know what Mal did." he said, not looking at me properly. "After he did it, he told me everything." He shuddered, just thinking about it. "I'm so sorry I couldn't stop him, Bailey. I understand if you hate me."

I shrugged, trying to pretend it hadn't happened. "Whatever. I don't hate you, Mike. I hate _Mal_. You did nothing. It was all him."

"Thanks." Mike murmured. "Zoey," he moved on to his girlfriend. "I know you probably don't trust I'm who I say I am. But I swear, it's me. For now, at least. But I probably won't see you for a while after this. I'm going to commit myself to a hospital, but I promise, I'll get better. Then I'll be able to lock Mal away."

Zoey studied Mike for a moment, trying to work out whether he was telling the truth. Finally, she smiled "I'll wait for you." she promised. She shyly reached up and kissed him on the lips quickly. "I know you'll be able to get through this."

It was almost a melancholy event to see Mike leave the island, although he kept switching personalities throughout the day. The three of us mostly kept away from each other, before we said goodbye on the dock. But on the other hand, it was sort of a relief. Zoey and I were allowed back into the spa hotel, but we swapped bedrooms this time, and took the other girls' bedroom.

"So..." I remarked, "We're in the finale."

"Yeah." Zoey gave a sigh. "I'm glad Mal was wrong. Mike _is_ still in there, even if he doesn't feel strong enough to keep control yet." She paused. "I wonder what the last challenge will be. Knowing Chris, it'll be life-threatening."

I managed a smile. "I don't think you of all people should be worried, Zoey. Who's defied death on this show more times than you?"

 **We'll leave it at that, although probably, the answer is "half the first-generation contestants". The finale is next!**

 **Next chapter: Moats of Doom, a few familiar faces (okay, any from four to thirteen faces) and the finale. Who you gonna root for, who's it gonna be?**

 **And on that note, could you please check out my Katie/Sadie oneshot "Best Sleepover Ever"? It's my first ever yuri.**


	16. Chapter 16: Lawless Artist & Indie Chick

**Finale time! Let's dive right in. Thanks for reviewing, Elizabeth Life Stone, queenoftrouble, and Bloodylilcorpse. So...is it good or bad that I surprised you?**

I got up the next morning, humming.

Zoey looked up at me. "That song sounds familiar."

I shrugged. "It should. It's from the third season. Remember it?"

Zoey screwed her face up in thought. "Oh, yeah!" She sang a line. " _I'm gonna win it, and you can't take it!"_

I sang the next line in it. " _I'm right here in it, and you just fake it!"_

We both laughed, but then Zoey became serious. "We're not going to go into the finale with that really vicious attitude like Heather and Alejandro did that season, though, right?"

I shook my head. "So I want that million bucks. At least I'll be leaving this show knowing that I beat out thirteen veterans and...well...are you still planning to spend that money on..."

Zoey nodded. "Yeah. I mean, even though Mike is planning to get help himself, I want him to be able to get the best help possible. I know it sounds like charity, but seriously, the best prize I could have is to have him back in control."

"Which means that if I go on with my plan if I win – and trust me, a million dollars is worth less than Mal disappearing forever – my prize will be ten times smaller, and I won't feel too bad if you win." I paused and smirked. "Not that you'll win, of course." I added, half-serious.

Zoey smirked back, the expression looking pretty odd on her innocent face. "Bring it on!"

I paused again. "Just don't go crazy commando on me, all right?"

"You've got a deal!" Zoey laughed. "I'll admit, I went a little overboard last season."

"Attention, finalists!" The loudspeaker called us out for the challenge, and so we could get "Ready to diet!...sorry, typo. Ready to _die_!"

I rolled my eyes at Zoey as we left the hotel. "Typical Chris. We've defied death at least five times already this season. This challenge can't be any different." I remembered all the others...the reject Olympics, the questions and vote, the volcanic sacrifice, and the gladiator tournament. How hard could it be?

Chris congratulated us on making it to the finale. "It's something you'll regret for the rest of your lives, which will likely be rather short, since this challenge is so vicious...so brutal...so savage..."

I heard Zoey gasp.

"That our lawyers said we had to change it." Chris continued calmly.

Zoey breathed a sigh of relief. "So you made it less dangerous?"

"Nope! But we told them we did!" Chris laughed. Chef, who was standing by his side, didn't look too pleased when Chris addressed him. "High-five!"

"People gonna die." Chef muttered in a monotone.

"Yeah. _Those_ people." Chris grinned.

We were given a chance to pick a weapon. Chris went through all of them. "Meatball bazooka, bow and blood-tipped arrows, a leech gun, a slingshot, or...why is there an oven mitt there?"

"There was an extra hook." Chef spoke up sheepishly.

Zoey instantly chose the bow and arrows. I decided on the meatball bazooka, because those things had a lot of force.

Basically, Chris had put all thirteen of the former All-Stars into yellow balloons. Our job was to shoot them down. Any All-Star whose balloon we popped became our helper.

"Can they breathe in there?" Zoey asked.

Chris shrugged, pointing over to another former competitor. "I don't know. Ask our classic competitor Owen. He filled them."

"Thanks, Chris!" called the wind machine who won the first season, surrounded by empty cans of beans. Turned out that he'd filled the balloons with his gas.

"Ew!" I exclaimed. "Chris, seriously. Didn't they get enough torture on the show? And by the way, did you tie them down?"

"Relax, they're perfectly safe." Chris assured me. "Owen doesn't have helium in him. We tested that. They'll only hover for five minutes, and then fall. And we're going to pop all the balloons anyway, so they can watch you and Zoey do the final challenge...or die trying." Anyway, he was done talking, so it was time for us to start shooting.

As a matter of fact, the two of us were lucky enough to shoot down two people each, and they'd be our greatest allies. First, Zoey shot down Cameron. Then, my bazooka popped first Sierra's balloon, and then Duncan's. Zoey made one last shot, and out came...

"Mike?" Zoey whispered.

"Of all the times..." I groaned. He'd said he would get help for his DID, but he hadn't had a chance yet, and Zoey ran to check who he was at that moment. She came back instantly, and I knew immediately from the look in her eyes that Mike's control hadn't lasted that long. Mal was still in primary control.

Still, at least I had my boyfriend and one of my new friends on my side, and in spite of everything, Zoey still had Cameron on her side, and no one knew more about Mike's issues than he did.

I went to greet my allies. I gave Sierra a hug (but didn't let her crush me with her returning hug). I greeted Duncan with a kiss, but he quickly turned it into a French kiss, which I returned.

"Ahem." We stopped to see Chris scowling at us. "As much as I want to see you two make out – NOT – we have to get to the final challenge."

I flipped Chris the bird. "Get a life. Just cause no one will hook up with you. It wasn't like we'd even been taking five seconds."

"We can resume it later on." Duncan whispered to me, chuckling. "By the way, nice one-finger salute." I laughed, giving him a playful shove.

Sierra, who had been watching us intently, started tapping away on her SmartPhone, and shot a nervous glance at Mal. "I had the time to check out Mike's criminal record." she whispered to us. "From what I can gather, I think Mal wants the million dollars, but now that he can't win, I think he's going to play his role, but then somehow find a way to take the mil anyway."

As for the other nine competitors – they were on the sidelines, and I looked at all of them. Courtney was no longer scowling. In fact, she and Gwen were sitting together, with tentative smiles (Later on, Gwen told me that she'd made up with Courtney and they were working towards a kind of friendship – not best friends or anything, but on good terms). Lightning, Jo, Scott and Sam were their usual selves. Lindsay smiled and waved to all of us. Heather was sitting right next to Alejandro, but faking my surprise, he gently cupped her face so she had to face him, then leant in and kissed her, and she didn't stop him. However, she did scowl and I heard her say "How many times daily do you feel the need to do that?"

I also heard Alejandro's answer. "What is wrong with me showing my affection for you as often as I want, _mi amor_? I thought I had the right, since you agreed to be my girlfriend."

Now that was a good sight. It was nice to see that they were finally together, but Heather was _still_ denying she was into him? Wow.

The challenge was sort of a mix of all previous series. First, there were three moats we had to cross. First, there was the ROTI moat – of toxic waste. Second, there was the lava moat, a clear reference to WT's last challenge, what with throwing the sacrifice into the volcano. The third was pretty much a TDI reference – back to basics with normal water...except that Fang lurked below. Then, at the end, Zoey and I would leave our helpers and go to the TDA ending, similar to _The Sword In The Stone._ Because, to become the Ultimate All-Star, we had to pull the Sword of Victory out of a stone, while getting past Chef as the Mad King, now with my bazooka.

Going through every part of the challenge would be pointless. But I did work out who was rooting for who. Sam always said he rooted for the underdog, and although I had stronger helpers, Zoey was quicker than me, so he was on my side. Lightning and Jo were silent, mostly, but Lindsay and Alejandro seemed to be on my side. Gwen, Courtney and Scott were all on Zoey's side, but I think Scott wasn't really – I turned at one moment and saw him staring at Courtney with a goofy grin, so I think he only cheered for Zoey because he wanted Courtney to like him. Heather was silent.

I cast a nervous look over at Mal, standing by Zoey's side quietly. He saw me staring and shot me one of his smirks, this one lewd as well as dark, sending the shivers down not only my spine, but everywhere. Even my teeth chattered.

I didn't even remember much of the challenge, because I was so scared of what might happen if Mal got his undeserving hands on the money, even if Zoey or I officially won it. We got across the toxic waste, and used the ladder up to get across the lava (as did Zoey), but as I reached the other side, about to climb up to the third moat, I heard Sierra scream. I turned, to see her falling. Mal had just shoved her back down to the first moat...luckily, she didn't fall in, but she was hurt. The ladders had burned up, though, so Zoey's helpers (well, I'd really just say Cameron) and Duncan wouldn't be able to get across the lava anyway...except for the items placed on the sides.

But before anyone else could react, Mal tossed Cameron down to the first level, too.

"Duncan, step away from the psycho before trying to get across!" I called down, ready to cross the first moat. "I'd rather lose to Zoey than have you turn into Ezekiel's double!"

Mal was listening to this, and he had a pogo stick he was jumping on, about to launch himself up to our level. "Oh, I'm not going to deal with him right now." he smirked. "It looks like I'm running out of time, so I'm coming for you two!"

I exchanged glances with Zoey. "One of us has to get up there first! And we have to get Mike to take control for at least a moment!" I whispered.

Zoey nodded grimly. "I'll put myself in Fang's path while you get across. If that doesn't bring Mike out, there's not much else that can. Get the sword out of the stone, and if the two of us keep hold of the money until we get back to the mainland, we can keep it away from Mal."

What can I say? I got across, and Zoey was still alive when I got up there. Our last resort strategy worked well enough that Mike was in control, although as he said to Zoey, "I have a long way to go before I can permanently subdue Mal." And I had won Total Drama All-Stars! Sure, I had Chef's pasta staining my jeans and ruining my hair after he shot at me, and I also ended up throwing up into the toxic waste moat, but still, I was happy, and I stayed happy the whole way home. Once I'd had a chance to brush my teeth after being sick, I spent half the ride talking to Zoey and Sierra, and the other half with Duncan, sometimes talking, and sometimes just being close.

"So..." I said. "What happened with Heather and Alejandro? When did they start dating?"

Duncan shrugged. "I don't know what happened, to be honest. Heather was still furious when I got to the place they were staying – Chris commandeered Playa Des Losers as his private home, so we had to stay somewhere else. When Alejandro got there, she actually went up to him first and slapped him for getting her eliminated. Then he said something, and they spent the whole night in a room together, talking. The next morning, they went all affectionate for about a day. After that, Heather went back to trying to pretend she wasn't that into him, but the difference is just that she lets him show how much he's into her."

I gave the nine hundred thousand I'd promised to put towards getting Mike support to Zoey, keeping the hundred thousand for myself. If my parents were serious about disowning me if I didn't come home with the million, I'd need it.

I called my parents from a pay phone. Possibly the most predictable, yet still painful, phone call. When I explained that I only had a tenth of the money and why I'd given the rest up, I got a rant that basically was "If you're stupid enough to give up your money for a freak, you're no longer our daughter, nor are you welcome in our apartment. Don't bother coming back."

I slammed the reciever down and turned to Duncan. "Can I talk to your mom and see if it's a crime to turn your kid away before she turns eighteen?"

Duncan laughed. "Even if it isn't, you can crash with me for a while. I have my own apartment – it's tiny, but so are you."

So that was it. I moved in with Duncan that same day.

 **But the trials and tribulations are not over yet. In fact, they're only just beginning!**


	17. Chapter 17: After-Effects

**Thanks for reviewing, Elizabeth Life Stone (always first to review a new chapter), Katie Grimm (what did you figure?), Bloodylilcorpse ( :-) ) and the guest reviewer (will still be in this fic). Now, there is something going on that's just not right...**

I had to admit, being disowned actually felt a little better than I'd expected. It helped that I sort of knew it was going to happen, and that I had somewhere else to stay. No criticism or annoying little sisters (although Lucy and Sophie did call me themselves and demand to know where I was, saying they didn't disown me). I could do what I liked and no one could stop me. Well, Duncan could always kick me out of the place, but I was pretty sure that he liked having me around too much. Correction: He liked having me around because I didn't demand affection, but we almost always wanted the same thing at the same time. More than once, we said "Wanna make out?" at the exact same time. Also, there was no one who could possibly walk in on us when we were screwing each other (we shared a bed and often ended up doing that a couple of times).

But that day during the challenge when I threw up into the toxic waste moat was just the start of my troubles. I started blowing chunks regularly. Like every day. Let me tell you, hanging out in a bathroom with a running nose and watery eyes while any food was being rejected and ejected is one of the worst feelings ever that isn't emotion-related.

And speaking of emotions – I was PMSing. A lot. Sometimes I was in a really bitchy mood. I actually expected Duncan to get tired of it and kick me out, but he didn't. "I dated Courtney for nearly a year." he explained. "And then Gwen for more than a year. All girls get like this. I've learned to live with it."

Worse, even though I kept losing my breakfast (and usually lunch, too), I was slowly gaining weight, and I soon became terrified of what was going on. I didn't tell anyone...not yet, anyway. But I got it tested, about three weeks after it began.

Positive. It was happening – and I didn't need to take a paternity test to check what was happening. I'd been on the pill when I was with Duncan, and I'd started taking it again ever since we moved in together, plus we always used protection...but...

I was pregnant. At seventeen. And it was Mal's kid. And worse, senior year was starting in two weeks, and there was no way I was going to go back to school while everyone noticed I'd been knocked up. The guys I hung with would never respect me again!

I calculated how long it had been since All-Stars. About one and a half months...seven and a half to go. And although I wasn't showing yet, it was only a matter of time before I started.

After I processed that information, I wasn't sure who to talk to. I didn't want to tell Duncan – not yet. And I didn't know who else to tell.

My mobile phone suddenly ended up in my hand and I was dialling a number I hadn't expected to call. Well, maybe I should have expected it. I was calling the one person who'd understand.

"Bailey?" The gentle, understanding voice of my co-star floated out from the reciever.

"Zoey?" I said. "I'm glad you picked up. I called to...to ask how Mike's progress is going."

"Oh." Zoey sounded surprised. "He committed himself to a psychiatric asylum, but he's mostly doing all right, and he can leave when he feels strong enough. I visit him, and he's more and more like the old Mike every time I see him. Apparently he's been learning techniques to be able to gain as much control over himself as possible."

"But..." I hesitated. "Is he ever Mal?"

Zoey hesitated, too. Finally, she said, "Sometimes. And when he is, he still talks about you. Last time he was Mal when he visited, he asked me why you weren't visiting. But it's getting less frequent. Why are you asking?"

"I have another bone to pick with that monster, but I don't want to tell Mike about it, because being who he is, he'll take all the guilt." I explained.

I heard Zoey gasp, and I knew that she had some idea of what I was saying. "Is it..." her voice wavered as she spoke. "Is it to do with what happened...that night..."

"I don't want to get into it with you." I said brusquely. "But I guess you could say that. I don't know what to do, though."

"What is it?" Zoey asked. "I'm not going to judge or anything if that's what you're worried about. I was there at the time, remember?" She hesitated. "It's not a disease, is it?" That thought hadn't even crossed my mind, and I surprised myself by laughing.

"What? What did I say?" Zoey asked.

"Sorry, Zoey." I said, "But I just realized how much worse it could be. Yeah, he screwed my life up, but not by giving me something that would kill me slowly." I paused. "But he did give me a mini-Mal."

Zoey didn't gasp, this time. "I thought as much, after you said about how it could be worse." Her voice was quiet and monotone. "Have you told anyone else?"

"No." I admitted. "I'll admit it...I'm scared that if I tell Duncan, he won't want me any more. But I can't bring myself to get this thing killed. And even if nothing I'm scared of happens and I have this kid, what if it turns out to be like Mal – having his traits instead of Mike's? And if that's not it, what if it turns out to have inherited his disorder?"

"Calm down, Bailey." Zoey reassured me. "You could just have it adopted out. You're seventeen, no one's going to expect you to take care of it. And if Duncan would leave you over something you had no control over...well, he wouldn't be worth it in the first place. And although I personally don't like him much, I can tell that after all that stuff with Courtney and Gwen, he's desperate not to screw up another relationship where things are actually working out. So I don't think he'd dump you over this."

I thought about it. "I think I will put it up for adoption. Thanks, Zoey. And do me a favour...don't let Mike know about it. I couldn't care less if Mal knows, but I know Mike will just get mad at himself because Mal is part of him, and that's not going to help him get better."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't tell him in any case." Zoey answered. She hesitated. "But...I do think Mal should know. Only thing is, I never know when he'll come out, so I won't be able to bring you without him-"

"Oh, no." I interrupted. "No way am I going to see him. _Especially_ if Mal comes out."

"It's all safe." Zoey said quickly. "There's a panic button if there is a problem. Besides, Mike is getting better. Anyway, he says that the staff are trying to find out Mal's trigger. He already knows how his other personalities are triggered, and how to bring him back, but that's it. Cameron's working on it, too. Since he's already mentally years ahead of most people his age, he's been able to skip senior year and he's at college. I can never remember what courses he's taking, but one of them is a psychology paper, so he's a lot of help."

"Wait..." I frowned. "Did Cameron actually go to high school before? What happened? Wasn't he in a bubble for sixteen years?"

"He was homeschooled mostly." Zoey explained. "But he was able to do regular exam papers by distance. Anyway," she continued, "The reason I'm saying I think you should come is because if Mal does come out, telling him would be best coming from you. He's been making a lot of suggestive comments towards me, too, but I can tell that he prefers you to me."

I knew well that the only reason Mal had any interest in Zoey was because she was Mike's girlfriend. Her being pretty, innocent and hopeful was just a bonus. But I didn't say this. I knew, deep down, that Zoey wasn't going to give up on getting me to go to the asylum. She'd probably say she didn't want to force me, but I knew that in that case, she'd probably end up guilt-tripping me. Nice as she was, she was smart enough to be manipulative when she felt it was necessary. And for some reason, she thought it would be best for me to tell Mal what he'd done to me.

I gave a sigh. "Okay, I'll come with you next time you see him. I'm not going there alone. And I'm expecting you to explain to Mike why I'm there."

Zoey sounded chipper as she spoke. "I go there weekly. Tomorrow evening okay?"

"Sure." I said. "But about the baby...what do I tell Duncan? Should I tell him? And what am I supposed to do if things get awkward? I have nowhere else to go!"

"Don't worry." Zoey said, her voice reassuring. "I live in a little apartment my parents own – I still have to pay them rent. You can stay with me if it comes to that. But I've seen the way Duncan looks at you. Sure, he liked Courtney and Gwen back then, but I can tell, whatever you two have is more than that." Even over the phone, she sounded reassuring.

"Okay." I said finally. "I'll tell him."

"Don't leave it too long." Zoey warned. "It'll be harder, the longer you leave it."

"Okay, I'll do it tonight." I said. And I resolved to actually do it.

 **How will Duncan take it? Find out next time!**


	18. Chapter 18: The Anti-Juno

**It's time for Bailey to 'fess up! Thanks for reviewing, Elizabeth Fire Ice Heart, Katie Grimm and Bloodylilcorpse.**

Duncan noticed how quiet I was that evening. "Anything up, Diamond?" he asked, giving me a slightly concerned look.

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"Becuase you've spent an hour in silence." he answered. "The last time you were this quiet, it was back when we first met. Remember, you told me that it was about-"

"Well, I guess I'll have to tell you, then." I muttered, staring at my trainers. "Don't freak, okay? And if you wanna kick me out or just wanna break up with me, I'll understand."

Duncan gave me an incredulous look. "It's _that_ serious? Look, I dated Courtney for a year. If I can take her abuse and still go back to her for some time, I'm pretty sure you'd have to do something really serious to make that happen."

"I didn't do anything." I managed to get out. "It wasn't me, exactly. Did you get the uncut footage from All-Stars when you got kicked off?"

Duncan gave a nod. "Some." he said. "Is this to do with Mal? Because he had a confessional talking about using the prize money to live like a villain in a tower, and he mentioned taking 'someone' with him."

"Okay." I said. "Do you remember me telling you that back in juvie, we had to keep us a secret because if Mal found out, he'd be furious that I even thought of being around someone else? Well, just after you left, he found out. Anyway, that night after Scott got kicked off, it was just me and Zoey in the spa hotel. And Mal wasn't supposed to go in, but he..."

"Yeah, I saw that part." Duncan said. "He sneaked in. And they taped the part of Zoey waking up and hearing something, but him managing to sneak right past her, but after that, there was a clip of Chris in the confessional saying that what happened that night needed viewer discretion and therefore was cut out. I didn't think about it, but..." His blue eyes widened, and I saw his gaze slip down to look below my face. He paled. "He didn't...you're not..."

For a moment, I wanted to rage. The cameras had _seen_ what happened? Chris had actually _watched_ that footage? Oh wow. But I kept that out of my mind long enough to continue the conversation.

I nodded hesitantly. "I warned you, didn't I?" I reminded him. "Now, I guess I better start packing or something. I'm not-"

Duncan interrupted me. "I'm not dumping you, Bailey. How old do you think I am, fifteen? And it's not like you have to keep the kid. I mean, if it's Mal's kid, it'll either have inherited the same disorder, or it'll be a psycho." He paused, waiting for me to say something. I stayed silent. "You're not planning on keeping it?"

"No!" I said quickly. "No way. I can't look after this kid, and I wouldn't keep it even if it _didn't_ have a psychopath for a dad. But if it wasn't, I'd probably give birth to it and have it adopted. I can't decide whether I should do that, or just have an abortion."

"Please, just abort it." Duncan said firmly. "The kid is not going to grow up normal, so it's kinder to just kill it. Same with you – if you want to finish senior year, you can't do that with a kid on the way. And to be honest, I'd rather be able to share a bed without worrying about crushing you and causing a miscarriage, cause I know those can literally be killers."

I heaved a sigh. "I think you're right." I looked him in the eye. "And...and are you really okay with this? Like, you're still my boyfriend?"

Now that the serious part was over, Duncan half-smiled. "Um, duh. You are so insecure!"

"Well, with your history of girlfriends, don't you think I've got a right to?" I teased back.

"Well, with your history of launching surprise attacks, shouldn't I be more scared of you?"

"Keep talking, and you won't expect this kind of attack."

"Bring it on!"

I folded my arms, grinning. "I'll wait a few hours. Then you won't see it coming."

Well, I did. Just not in the way that you'd usually define attacks. I mean, most attacks start with tackling one person to the ground, but it doesn't usually end with screams of the good kind. Uh-huh, I went there. It was good, actually – for a moment, I could forget that I could be facing Mal tomorrow. And even if I didn't...well, what would I say to Mike? Or any other personality who popped up?

I decided not to tell Duncan where I was going. We didn't talk about everything, and since there wasn't really going to be any repercussions concerning the would-be kid, I didn't see the point. So all I said was that I was hanging out with Zoey (and booking my abortion on the way, which I did).

Then, it was time to face the music. As we walked into the hospital, I had to hold back from just turning around. I think Zoey sensed the way I felt, because she put a hand on my shoulder, half in comfort, half in restraint. "It might not even happen, Bailey." she said quietly. "He's getting better."

Oh, if only the visit had proved that! Mike's face completely lit up when we saw him through the glass partition (okay, major deja vu from being in juvie, although Mike actually chose to be here), but he went completely tense when he saw me, and Zoey explained that she'd brought me for...some reason...I don't remember.

Mike's eyes were wide. "Bailey, I'm sorry, but you have to leave." he said, his voice fearful. "Just thinking about you is enough to..." He gasped, and his hair covered one eye. I was once again, face-to-face with Mal.  
"What a surprise." he said smoothly. "Both of my girls came to visit this time, huh? I guess you told her how much I was missing her, Zoey?"

I scowled. "Don't even say another word. And I'm _not_ your girl, and I never will be! I don't belong to anyone!"

"Don't bother with the argument." Zoey whispered to me. "He's trying to mess with us. I just ignore him for a while, and if Mike isn't back within a few minutes, I leave."

I shrugged. "I think what Mike was saying is that I make Mal stronger. Because he took an interest in me back when we first met, when he was the only one in control. So...I guess all I do is tell Mal what he did, and then go."

Zoey nodded, so I turned back to the nightmare. "I'm only here for a second." I informed him. "Did you just 'forget' that I was single at the start of the show, so I wasn't on birth control, or did you actually _want_ to knock me up?"

Mal's visible eye lit up. "You're pregnant? Really?" He chuckled darkly. "You might want to let that kid go before I let myself out. All I need is the chance, and once I get the money for my tower, everything will be as I planned." He cast one more look at me. "This isn't the last time you'll see me, doll face, I can promise you that."

I bolted from the room. I didn't stop until I was out of the building. Only a minute later, Zoey followed. "I get it now." she said quietly. "Why Mal keeps coming out. Mike didn't tell me – he gets stronger whenever you're mentioned. I guess because you trigger memories that Mike doesn't have, but that Mal has, or something like that."

"What if Mike gets out because he thinks he's strong enough...and then it happens again?" I murmured. "What then?"

"That won't happen." Zoey said, her tone full of conviction. "And even if it did, Mike and all of his personalites don't know where you live, right?"

Famous last words.

 **By that ending, I have a feeling you know what might come next!**


	19. Chapter 19: Come And Get Me

**Let's keep going. Thanks for reviewing, Bloodylilcorpse (I don't either, but I figured it was the best thing for a slightly irresponsible seventeen-year-old whose child would have a hard life anyway) and queenoftrouble.**

I put the whole baby thing behind me before senior year began. It wasn't there any more, and everyone involved, I'm sure, was relieved. Zoey reported to me that she was still visiting Mike regularly, and it was true – she hadn't said a word about me, and Mal hadn't come out. In fact, she reported that the only personality she'd seen since was Chester, when Mike was stressing out about something.

Life went on. I had a weekend job, while Duncan was doing something daily – I didn't ask what, since knowing him, it was probably on the verge of illegal – but we still had a lot of time for each other, and other friends. We went out most Fridays or Saturdays – sometimes together, or sometimes with friends separately, and for a month, life was as good as it could get.

I guess it would've been forty-six days exactly since my visit when it started, on a Friday. Everything that had happened on All-Stars and after had created a bond between Zoey and I. I didn't have many female friends (although I still kept in touch with Sierra after she befriended me on the show), but she was definitely one of the first. I mean, she was the only friend I had who'd seen me at my worst. Most of my school friends didn't really know the real me, and although my relationship with Duncan was just about as real as it got and he knew me better than anyone, Zoey was the only one who really understood what had happened. But I wasn't that worried when I texted her and she didn't answer...at least, for a while. But when it had been six hours and she still hadn't answered, I got a little worried. Zoey always answered all of my texts within an hour! She was in senior year, like me, but she always answered texts, even on school days. She'd even told me.

"I put my phone on vibrate when I'm in class," she told me, "But if I have a text, I'll look it up straightaway during break. And I always answer." She had laughed then. "I guess I'm kind of compulsive in that way. If I had a phone that had internet, I'd probably be just like Sierra with her SmartPhone."

So of course it was a little worrying when Zoey didn't answer my text. I sent another, asking if she was okay, planning to call if she still hadn't answered by the next morning.

But I got a text back, first thing Saturday morning, in fact. Well, it said it was from Zoey, but it was a little weird. Zoey hadn't bothered to learn textspeak, and only used the most basic ones, like "u" for "you" and "lol" for "laugh out loud". It was a huge contrast to my only other texting friend, Sierra, who I happened to know used textspeak out loud (like the time she said on World Tour "OMG, Chris, I am just LOL"). But anyway, although Zoey wasn't textspeak-savvy, the message I got from her was still strange.

It read: _B, don't txt again cos my cell tracks contacts and ill have to give this up soon so do_

That was all it said. But I knew what Zoey was saying. " _Bailey, don't text again, cause my cellphone tracks my contacts, and I'll have to give my phone up soon, so-"_ I guessed she'd had to give up her phone at that moment. But more importantly, I knew Zoey was in major trouble with that message. And if she didn't want me to be found, there was only one person I knew who would want to find me, and who would endanger someone as innocent and harmless as Zoey (yeah, I knew about her crazy skills, but when she wasn't Commando Zoey, she wouldn't hurt an amoeba).

Mal. The only one with a motive.

The question was, how could it have happened? Zoey may have started out on the island a total doormat, but it had been more than a year, and she could and would fight.

But I had to face facts. Zoey was strong, but she was only human. And I knew from experience that if my deductions were right, even she would've reached her limits at some point.

And in the same way, I knew I couldn't just stop texting. But if Mal had Zoey's phone, and could track me if I texted, then I'd just have to text Zoey somewhere I didn't go to often, and probably would never go again. I thought about it. _Where would I never go again?_ And then it hit me!

Two hours after this revelation, I was standing outside the dark square building and the walls of brick and barbed wire, texting Zoey's phone: _I know what's going on, and I'm not going to just give up and let a friend get hurt. What's your angle?_

Five minutes after sending, I got a text back: _Come and get her, doll face. Or maybe I'll just come and get you. I know where you live. And I also know you've been breaking the rules by living there._

I didn't need to be told that it was true – Mal had Zoey's mobile, and that text was from him. And..well...was it true? He obviously knew I was living with Duncan, but did that mean he knew where I was?

I was outside juvie. The place I'd sworn I'd never go again.

I didn't tell anyone about what was going on, pushing it down. But I couldn't forget it. In the back of the mind, I was scared that all of my nightmares were going to come true. From now on, every night that Duncan and I were...uh, getting intimate...I engulfed myself into the haze, because deep down, I was scared that it might be the last time I ever got to show my favourite delinquent how much I truly loved him.

I relaxed a bit more after a week, though. Maybe Mal's threat was a lie. Of course, that hope didn't last very long.

I swear, I'm not sure what happened. It had been a tiring day, and I'd barely had the strength to even make out with Duncan before crashing. But even so, while I drifted off, I heard him whisper "Sweet dreams, Diamond."

Yeah, the closest thing I got to dreams that night was half waking up and hearing voices, then feeling something with a pungent scent placed on my face, and again, I was out.

I woke up in a room that felt familiar. Too familiar. It was windowless, with a single lightbulb dangling from the ceiling. I was currenly lying in a double bed with black – oh no!

I sat up, suddenly wide-awake, seeing my surroundings. And next to me...oh please say this isn't happening! - there was a familiar girl, with scarlet hair, sleeping peacefully.

I didn't know where I was, but I knew what had happened. I'd been kidnapped. And if I didn't figure out a way out, I'd be more hurt than ever before!

 **Mal didn't have to escape the mental hospital, because Mike committed himself voluntarily. He just had to discharge himself while pretending to be Mike. Now, he hasn't yet got a tower, but he's got a place.**


	20. Chapter 20: It's My House Now

**Right. So when we left off, Bailey had found herself in a place similar to her dreams. Thanks for reviewing, Elizabeth Fire Ice Heart, queenoftrouble and Bloodylilcorpse.**

Zoey woke up soon after I'd taken in everything. She frowned when she saw me. "Bailey? You're here?" She gave a sigh. "I guess it was only a matter of time. Let me guess, he chloroformed you?"

I sighed too. "That was how it happened to you?"

Zoey nodded. "One minute I'm sitting there, reading, the next I'm waking up in this bed and I'm told that I'm not allowed to wear my own clothes any more." She pointed at a wardrobe door in the corner. "There's copies of most things in there. He'll probably make you wear similar stuff to me."

"So...you've been here for over a week?" I whispered. Zoey nodded tearfully. "What did he do?"

"He...um...well..." Zoey choked out, "He...made me lose my..." She didn't need to finish that sentence. "And he makes me play these stupid roles, like a couple of nights ago, he made me wear a stripper costume...and then do a pole dance, and give him a lap dance."

I shuddered. "That sick, twisted little...wait a second. So what is he going to do with both of us?"

At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and the voice of my nightmares spoke up. "Having a good talk, my beautiful slave girls? It's a good thing you get along, because you're going to do a lot more than talking from now on."

Slowly, the door opened, and I knew I was right. The minute Mal's eyes landed on me, his face lit up in sadistic approval.

"Nice to see you're awake, Bailey." he said. "I see you're more of a fighter than this one." He gestured to Zoey. "The chloroform knocked her out for a few more hours than you."

"I don't care!" I hissed at him. "Just let me and Zoey out of here and let us actually have a life, you total nutjob!"

I knew that was an unfair statement, if, by chance, Mike was still in there and could hear me, but at that moment, I didn't care.

I steamrollered on "Why do you need Zoey, anyway? Isn't it harder to keep control when she's around?"

Mal's smirk only grew. "Only when she's in danger. And I'm not planning to murder her. And besides, you make me stronger, doll face."

He paused. "I've gone through the rules with Zoey. You should remember them from juvie. Now, both of you, get dressed. I don't care what you wear, but I expect it to be the same thing. I expect you out there in ten minutes." And he left us.

I went to the wardrobe, to find two of everything. Well, everything that a slut with no self-respect would wear.

Zoey joined me. "This is the first time he's actually let me choose."

"What about the most modest combined with the least humiliating?" I suggested. "Thing is, the prison stripes cover the most, but the cheerleading ones are actually not that demeaning..."

Zoey tilted her head to one side, considering. "Yeah, but the cheerleading ones barely cover anything. And trust me, having been here for a week, we'll have to actually do some acrobatics if we put them on. I'd pick the most revealing, actually, because if he can look at us, he'll most likely not do too much."

I didn't want to give in to that logic, but I figured I would have to. I looked at everything, and then chose..."What's that leather outfit?"

Zoey heaved a sigh. "It's supposed to be motorbike gear except they're shorts and show a ton of cleavage. But they're the best we can get, probably."

After we got dressed, we faced each other. "This is SO humiliating!" I groaned.

"I know, I know." Zoey said. "But do you know what he'll do if we don't listen?"

I paused. "Not really."

Zoey pulled up the top a tiny bit, and I saw a scar just above her belly-button. It was shaped like an M. "And that was just a warning." she said. "If I ever call him anything but Master, he gets mad. And that's just a minor thing. Trust me, he's got a lot worse than that."

We went out. Zoey pointed out everything in the place to me. It wasn't exactly the Tower of Mal, but for a flat, it was surprisingly menacing.

Zoey led me into the kitchen, where Mal was leaning against the counter, waiting. He didn't even try to hide the perverse way he was staring at us. "Nice." he finally said. "Zoey, breakfast is waiting in the dining room for you. You can go." Zoey shot me an apologetic look, and went to the next room.

"As for you..." Mal's hands landed on my shoulders, squeezing my shoulders painfully. After three years away from him, my tolerance for pain was lower, but it still was a weird turn-on to me, as long as it wasn't too much. "I'll be honest, doll face. I've realized that the whole sex slave thing was a bit too much for you. You're attractive, sure, but just like little Red in there, you're nothing special. I could just find any pretty girl and torture her. But I like your spirit. And I do need a little pleasure at times. However, now that I've taken both of you, I've discovered that I get more fun out of Zoey. You may have a more attractive personality, but I drive Mike completely insane when I talk about what I do to her. So she can do everything I want."

"Why would you need me, then?" I spat. "And why are you making me wear these stupid clothes?"

"You're here for her." Mal answered coolly. "You won't be doing anything to me. However, I've had a lot of time to think about what makes me happy. And what might make me happy is my own live show of two lesbian sluts who can't get enough of each other."

I instantly knew what he was saying, and the words burst out of me. "You freak! I'm straight, and even if I wasn't and had a crush on Zoey, I would never touch her unless she wanted me to! Besides, as Emilie Autumn once said to a rude audience member calling out for girl kisses, 'if I feel like kissing anyone, and I might, it sure as fuck will not be for you'!"

"As she also said, you're in my house now, bitch. Trust me, I have my ways of making you two irresistible to each other." Mal said darkly. "Go join her now. I have bars on the windows and complicated locks on the doors, so there's no way to get out. In an hour, I've got something to give you."

I shot him a death glare, but I didn't argue. I only went in the same direction as Zoey, and found a bowl of cereal there, presumably for me.

But then I looked down at the bowl and did a double take. "What the-!"

"You noticed the milk is green, huh?" Zoey muttered. "I think there's some kind of herb in it. Whatever it is, it makes me really uncomfortable all day." She lowered her voice. "I heard everything he was saying. I'm really really sorry in advance, Bailey, but what else can either of us do?"

"I'm more sorry for you than me." I whispered back. "At least I only have to do things to you, not him."

But to be honest, that didn't make me feel any better.

 **Yes, while Mal has been holding out to get Bailey back under his power, he's decided that after raping both of them, he got more out of it when it was Zoey (I imagine that he was taunting Mike about taking his girlfriend before Mike himself got the chance). As for what he was talking about...yes, lesbianism is ahead. Stop reading at this chapter if you wish to stay away from that kind of thing. And for those of you who are wondering why Mal says he can make Bailey and Zoey irresistible to each other...well, you'll find out what he's doing.**

 **And in all seriousness, go on YouTube and check out "Emilie Autumn tells off a rude audience member". It's epic! If by any chance Emilie is reading this, *insert supposedly witty song reference here*.**


	21. Chapter 21: You Weren't In My Sex Dreams

**Here's the next chapter. Oh, and the song Bailey and Zoey quote is "Sexxx Dreams" by Lady Gaga.**

 **Thanks for reviewing, Elizabeth Fire Ice Heart, Bloodylilcorpse, and queenoftrouble.**

 _A week later..._

I gave a cry of frustration. "I can't take it any more! I _have_ to get some!"

Mal hadn't made me do anything sexual myself for the last week. He would request that I do...things...with Zoey, but he wouldn't punish me if I didn't comply. All he'd say was "I can wait. All too soon, you'll want to."

I knew what he was trying to do. He wanted me to throw myself at her. Every day, we'd be teased as much as possible, forced to wear slutty clothes and usually some kind of vibrator in our most sensitive places, something that would make us as desperate for relief as possible. For Zoey, she actually got it. While Mal hadn't yet directly ordered me to do too much, Zoey didn't get off so lightly. But she was always more relaxed once she'd been allowed to release. Of course, with his tricks, it never lasted long, but I could tell she was trying not to show any difference. I wondered if it was becoming addictive to her, the way it had with me. But of course, she had no one to do moderated acts with, who could ease her out of it like Duncan had with me.

And although Mal didn't do anything with me, he did force me to watch him and Zoey. And although I knew she hated him as a person, she had felt exactly the same things I'd felt in juvie – she liked the sensations he gave her, no matter how much she loathed him.

At the time when I said that, Zoey and I were on our own in our room. It was nighttime, and the lights were off. We still had to share the bed, but it was the only time I wasn't forced to have light sexual stimulation that didn't drive me insane.

"I know what you mean." Zoey muttered. "It's probably worse for you, but it's gotten to the point that if I don't have anything, I feel empty. And whatever herb that's been turning the milk green - I'm pretty sure it has a hand in that feeling, too."

I groaned. "I can't believe it! He's only doing this so I'll fulfill his stupid fantasies and do with you just about everything that can be done with two girls. I can't stand it!"

"Have you tried just tou-"

"Yes, of course I've tried that." I said impatiently. "It's not the same. You know I've been with Duncan for months. And...well...he loves to test out my limits, even though he's never gone any further if l really can't take it – and he can usually tell without me saying anything."

Zoey looked at me seriously. "You know, Bailey," she said hesitantly, "This is just what he wants. He wants both of us to be so sexually frustrated that we'd eventually even get with each other."

"You don't say." I muttered sarcastically. "That's why I've been doing my best to hold back."

"But if no one finds us," Zoey murmured, "It will have to happen eventually."

I sighed. Yeah, I'd have to do it sometime. And...well, now was as good a time as any. And if I had to accept it, I might as well have fun with it.

I managed an evil smile, and then murmur-sang the words of a song I felt fitted our situation. " _Heard your boyfriend was away this weekend...wanna meet at my place?"_

Zoey's face went as red as her hair and she hissed "Bailey!"

"What? You were the one who said it would have to happen."

"I know, but how did you start getting all enthusiastic?"

"Oh, come on, Zoey!" I cried in exasperation. "If it has to happen, we might as well have some fun with it. Take two... _wanna meet at my place?"_

Zoey sighed, and said "Okay, but do we have to use this song? I'm not the biggest pop fan." I raised my eyebrow at her, like _Do you know any other songs that sound like two girls? a_ nd she sighed and sang " _Heard that we both got nothin' to do...when I lay in bed I touch myself and think a' you."_

Then I shyly reached out and kissed my friend on the cheek. She did the same to me, then hesitantly took the initiative and this time, brushed my lips with hers.

"This feels so awkward." she whispered.

I could feel the same, and said "I know. But do you want to get release, or not?"

Zoey paused, and then pulled away. Finally, she said, "But we don't have to make out to do that. Why don't we just, I don't know, touch each other or something if touching ourselves isn't cutting it." She paused and whispered "I don't mind if you want to imagine it's Duncan."

I shrugged. "Well, if we're doing this, I don't mind if you imagine Mike...if you still do."

Zoey looked like she was about to cry for a minute, but she blinked and said "I still miss him. And I still do love him. I know he's in there, somewhere. But the longer we're trapped in here, the harder it's going to be to get him back."

I gave a sigh and reached under the covers to Zoey. "If we're going to...you know...shall we..."

Zoey echoed my sigh and slipped a hand under the covers to me. We were both wearing nightclothes, but the only ones we got were short, tight nightdresses and the only underwear we were given were thongs, so there was really no point to wearing anything under the nightclothes. So it wasn't too hard to touch each other. And we were right – it felt electric to have someone else's touch, and I felt comfortable for the first time in a week. Judging by the way Zoey gave soft sighs whenever I pressed, she was getting the same feelings. We even reached our peak at the same time.

Finally, we were just lying there, having let go and feeling satisfied. "That wasn't too bad." I admitted. "I mean, it did help."

"It was weird to think about, but it felt good." Zoey agreed with me. "I guess...if it ever gets unbearable for you again, we can do that." She smiled slyly. "You know, I could tell you were thinking about Duncan, because you said his name."

I gasped. "I did? I barely even noticed either of us saying anything. Wow. I really must be missing him more than I realize." I hesitated before asking. "Is that how you feel about Mike?"

Zoey nodded, her face becoming serious and saddened. "I miss him so much." she murmured. "It's like...whenever I have to...you know..."

"You can say it if you want to!" I said impatiently. "Look, Zoey, I've had to watch you two going at it. You don't have to say ' _you know'_ to refer to it."

"Sorry, sorry." Zoey said quickly. "It's just...I never actually did that with Mike, and it hurts that I have to give it up to his alternate personality...but whenever he does...if I don't look him in the face, I usually start pretending that Mike's come back, and that I'm having my first time with him, and..." Tears shimmered in her eyes. "Afterwards, I start worrying that I'll never get him back!"

"I'll never let Mal take over completely," I vowed. "Not now that things are getting this serious. The windows may be locked in this place, but Mal lets me go around wherever, as long as it's inside. I can just smash one of the windows, and get out of here. Then I'll find the nearest police station and get you out of here too. "

And I got my chance the very next day.

 **Will she? This was her lowest point yet, forced to let Zoey touch her to provide relief. I hope I let her, but I'm still not sure.**


	22. Chapter 22: Run, Girls, Run!

**Right, let's continue with this. Thanks for reviewing, Bloodylilcorpse, Elizabeth Fire Ice Heart, and worthless brat (ok, just typing that name makes me feel mean).**

At the time, I was wearing one of those horribly degrading outfits. This one was an 'inappropriate schoolgirl' outfit. Zoey was wearing the same thing because, according to Mal, what we had done was something a lot of older girls forced younger ones into in old-fashioned all-girl boarding schools..yeah, apparently he had cameras in the bedroom – no sound, but he could see what we did last night. Yeah, like I believed all of that. If it didn't happen in the girls' cells in juvie (and I would know), not all boarding schools would have girls so desperate for sexual attention.

I also had a vibrator inside me, but I was trying to ignore it. That's when I realized I was standing in the lounge, staring at French windows (with complicated locks, but no bars), so I thought about how long I'd have the chance to smash the window and run.

First, Mal would hear the breaking glass if he was near enough. Luckily, I knew that he was in the almost-soundproof bedroom I shared with Zoey. Since we were both wearing schoolgirl outfits, he wanted to "play school" with Zoey, and he'd be occupied with that for at least another half-hour. No doubt he'd want Zoey and I to play "boarding school lesbian whore" later on...whether an order or not.

The heaviest thing in the lounge was a metal ornament, so I put all my force behind it and hurled it at the glass. It smashed instantly, and although I had to smash a bit more to get a hole big enough for me to fit through, soon, I was running. I was free!  
But I had no money, so I would either have to sneak on a bus without paying, or proceed on foot. Luckily, there was a bus stop a few blocks away, and luck seemed to be on my side, since a bus pulled up. I didn't care where it was going, but I sneaked on through the back entrance and flopped down in a seat, sighing.

"Bailey? Is that you?" I looked up at the familiar voice.

It was Cameron. He was smiling shyly at me in the seat opposite. I managed a smile. "Hi, Cameron. So...where are you going?"

"Home." Cameron answered. "It's about...like, twenty minutes away."

At that moment, I didn't care that I was talking to one of my co-stars and wearing a slutty costume. There was just one thing I had to do. "Um...is there a police station near one of the stops on the way?"

Cameron obviously sensed how scared I was, and his face became serious. Then he said "Yeah, I think so. I'll let you know when we get to that stop."

And about eleven minutes later, I left the bus, thanking Cameron. I hadn't told him what happened. I know, I should have. It _did_ involve his two closest friends, after all. But he didn't question my wish to get to a police station or clothes, and I didn't want to volunteer any information.

Luckily, the police station was just around the corner. I ran in and said to the person by the counter breathlessly "I've been...held captive...for about a week...another girl...is still there...escaped asylum patient..."

A policeman came out to talk to me about it after ten minutes. I managed to get out most of the story, about Mike and his personalities, how I'd known about him and Mal since I was fourteen, how now he still had Zoey, about a quarter of an hour away from here. "I smashed the window while I was on my own and got out." I explained. "Zoey's still there."

I'll admit it, I wasn't sure if I'd be believed, but after making a few calls to the mental hospital Mike had been in and getting no answer from Zoey's mobile number (which I gave them), they continued questioning me, and I realized I hadn't really thought through my escape. I told them everything I could, but I couldn't tell them where the house was – only how far away it was, and once they told me where I was now, I could guess the bus route.

That was the key – the bus route. While the police got into action, I was told that I'd be contacted to clarify everything once they found the house. I had to give them a description of both Mal and Zoey.

"Mal is tall and thin, around my age," I told them, "With spiky hair that covers one of his eyes and dark marks around them. He's very tanned. But sometimes he does use hairspray to keep his hair out of his eyes and puts on a different voice to make people think that he's Mike. But the only thing Mal can't disguise are the marks under his eyes. Zoey's about the same size as me...possibly a little taller. She has scarlet hair and wears aquamarine earrings, and she has brown eyes."

Once I'd given them the description of Mal, they asked me if I had any more information, so I explained to them how he'd been at the same juvenile detention center as me. Of course, they were able to look at the files from that time, and I identified the younger Mal easily.

Then I was finally allowed to go home, so I called Duncan from the station (although I had to ask where exactly I was first).

I had to call twice, but Duncan answered on the second ring on my second time. "Hello?"

"Duncan, it's me!" I said.

"Bailey? What happened to you? And where _are_ you?"

I told him. "I've been locked up for the last week." I said. "Can you come collect me? I'm not comfortable with being on my own right now."

I heard Duncan mutter something inaudible. Then he said "I'll be there in half an hour. But I'm not coming into the station, and I'm going to leave the motorbike around the corner." (Yes, he drove a motorcycle). Just check out in half an hour and I'll be waiting outside."

"Bring my helmet, okay?" I said. "And my leather stuff. The outfit I was forced to wear is ridiculously skimpy and I can't ride with that being all I'm wearing."

"Okay, Diamond, but don't start getting all bossy with me. Love you."

"Love you, too."

To be honest, although I'd always thought Duncan was really really hot, he'd never looked as good as he did that day when I saw him again. I instantly just ran to him, and he spun me around.

"I thought I might never get to see you again." I whispered.

"I sort of guessed what had happened," Duncan admitted. "When I woke up one morning and you were gone. There was no trace left of you – Mal obviously thought he was so cool that there was no point in making out you'd chosen to leave." His tone was bitter. "So, the outfit?" He eyed it. "Okay, so that was the kind of thing you had to wear? Don't get me wrong, I love it on you, but even I wouldn't force a girl to wear it during the day."

I shrugged. "Cheerleading, prison stripes, stripper outfit...take your pick. They were the only clothes he let Zoey and I wear."

It was a relief to get the story out to someone. That night was one of the best ever.

 **So yes, Bailey is home and dry. Mostly. But Zoey? The nightmare isn't over yet.**


	23. Chapter 23: Lost Mike, Found Zoey

**Thanks for reviewing, Elizabeth Fire Ice Heart, Bloodylilcorpse, queenoftrouble, and worthless brat. Okay, so Zoey...**

I didn't hear any more about Mal for the next few days. I was too busy trying to get back into my old routine. I felt as if Mal was going to jump out at any minute, and my nightmares came back. Like the first night after I got back home. I'd told Duncan everything, and he'd actually listened, then we'd spent the whole night getting...um...reaquainted. But it seemed as if that had been for nothing, because the nightmare that followed was a violation of everything I'd run from...

" _Looks like you got away again, doll face." Mal's expression was serious. "But no one is ever going to find this place. Now, maybe this isn't the real thing, but you can take my orders here, anyway. Scissor with her." He stepped aside to reveal Zoey lying in that same double bed, tears running down her face._

 _I didn't want to do it, but my control in this dream was limited. I saw myself walking over and obeying his orders._

" _I'm so sorry, Bailey." Zoey whimpered. "I...I hope that I'm out of here soon, too."_

" _I hope so." I whispered._

I had no problem with lesbianism, but only when it came from actual lesbians and not people like Zoey and I, who only liked boys.

But after four days of nothing, I got a call from the police. They'd found the house and had Mal in a holding cell. Zoey was at the station, and had asked what was happening with me.

"I'll be down there." I promised, although it was a school day. After I put down the phone, I turned to Duncan. "I'm cutting school because Zoey wants to see me. Can I borrow your motorbike?"

"You think I'd risk you driving that thing?" Duncan teased. "No way. I'll give you a ride down there, but I can't get back there this evening, so you'll have to catch the bus back. There's one every half-hour."

I shrugged and accepted the ride there.

The minute the police let me see Zoey, I saw her eyes light up. I was a little hesitant, remembering what we'd done when I last saw her, but she had no such problems, running over and giving me a big hug. Eventually, I wrapped my arms around her too.

"It's been such a hard four days." Zoey murmured. "After he found out you were gone, he got so much harder on me."

I pulled back for a moment, and noticed for the first time that Zoey was still wearing one of her costumes. This one was a French maid outfit. Zoey saw me look at it and blushed. "You know the drill." she muttered.

"Hey, at least black and white goes with red hair." I tried to joke. Zoey managed a smile.

"Nothing's set in stone yet, but they've told me what will most likely happen." she admitted. "All I can get out of the police is that Mal will probably be charged with kidnapping and rape, but he'll probably just end up in a top-security mental hospital. I'm still going to visit, but only when they tell me that Mike is making progress."

I smiled weakly. "I guess the only thing to do now is to make sure he doesn't get to me again. That'll make it harder to get Mike back. Anyone else who can help?"

Zoey hesitated. Then she said "I thought about it. Actually, I thought of one of the others from my season that wasn't on All-Stars – Dawn. She knew about Mike's personalities before anyone else – I know because she mentioned his aura and that only part of it was Mike. That means she might have some idea of what's making it so easy for Mal to keep control, and how to get Mike back in control."

I paused, trying to remember who Dawn was. "Wait...was she that girl Scott framed for stealing?" I asked. "The one that talks about auras and acts like Luna Lovegood from the _Harry Potter_ series?"

Zoey chuckled. "That's a perfect description of her! She even looks sort of similar to Evanna Lynch in the movies. Yeah – I think her aura-reading abilities might explain what's going on with him at the moment. And if she can tell us that, we might be able to figure out how to get Mike back and in control."

"And until then," I added, "I should probably keep away from him." I gave a sigh. "I want to get to know the real Mike." I admitted. "I've met him before, but not properly. And I've seen the fourth season of Total Drama, but..." I looked up at my friend. "What's he like most of the time?"

Zoey's eyes became dreamy. "He's...I guess...well, sort of like me, I guess. The reason we get along so well is because we like most of the same things for most of the same reasons."

A memory surfaced from one of the episodes. Something Mike had said to Zoey: " _You like action movies? If you're into ultimate kickboxing, I may have to marry you."_

I couldn't help smiling as Zoey continued "And he's, like, the sweetest guy I've ever known! Whenever we hung out, he'd always look out for me before himself. I mean, I'd sacrifice myself for him, too, but...well, I guess I've always thought it was too good to be true, that a guy like him would be interested in me. When I was with him, I felt like the luckiest person in the world." Her eyes became teary, and I put my arm around her.

"He's still in there, Zoey." I said sincerely. "Just stay strong for him."

But in the days that followed, I was far too busy to hear about Mike's progress. I had to catch up on schoolwork, work on weekends, squeeze in some free time...and on Duncan's request, I was keeping up-to-date with _Total Drama Pahkitew Island,_ which was just airing. Chris wanted to take a break from the usual island, and chose this one instead.

What? Just because we didn't like the crazy challenges on reality shows didn't mean we hated watching other people do them. So watch them we did, and enjoyed it thoroughly.

The first day we were watching the premiere was when I saw it. Some guy on the zeppelin was running around calling for Chris, and another girl threated to throw him out the window. When she said he'd be squished in two minutes, a new voice cut in, and I stared at the speaker.

"Actually, in the first fourteen seconds he would fall..." I didn't listen to the rest. I hadn't heard that voice in three years, and it sounded older and more intellectual than ever before, but I knew that voice. And as a matter of fact, that red hair tied up in a bun was a dead giveaway.

I looked up at Duncan. "Recognize her?" I whispered.

Duncan shrugged. "Should I?"

I gave him a shove. "Did you lose long-term memory or something? That's Scarlett! She was my cellmate, remember?"

Naturally, just knowing Scarlett gave me the motivation to root for her. And watching her on Total Drama gave me a whole new respect for her. Before now, she was just an annoying cellmate who was way too smart and asked far too many questions. Now, she seemed like a better person – smart, quiet, sweet. Maybe a bit weird, but no weirder than most of the cast. Even Jasmine, a badass Aborigine girl on the same team, described Scarlett as "a little weird, but harmless."

As a matter of fact, Duncan and I spent most of the episodes laughing at the cast. Most of them were too weird to take seriously. We were particularly mean about Max, who tried so hard to be a villain and failed so badly, and Ella, who looked like she'd stepped out of a Disney movie and couldn't stop singing. On the other hand, we were kind of in awe of Shawn, who'd developed crazy survival skills due to his constant preparations for the zombie apocalypse.

But three weeks after Zoey was found and Mal apprehended, after a week of episodes (and five eliminations – a beatboxer, a LARPer, a weird creeper, and a pair of twins), I got a call from her.

"I figured you'd want to know how things are going to happen." Zoey said. "Mike's being sent back to the psychiatric hospital, but he's on higher security. I've contacted Dawn. She said she has some meditation methods that could help Mike keep a stronger hold on his mind, and that she'd visit once I've talked to her properly."

"Can I speak to her too?" I asked. "After all, you know Mike better than anyone, but I know _Mal_ better. And I think we need an understanding of both."

"Sure." Zoey said. "I'll let you know when soon."

 **Okay, so I've been able to get eight of my top ten characters into Bailey's story. All we need is Jasmine and Bridgette, and we'd be golden. I mean, Courtney still counts, right – and Scarlett was in the first story. Now Dawn's in there, too.**


	24. Chapter 24: The Moonchild Of TD

**I promised Dawn, and Dawn you shall get! Thanks for reviewing, Elizabeth Fire Ice Heart and Bloodylilcorpse.**

I got a call from Zoey on Thursday afternoon, a couple of hours before Episode 9 of PI would be airing (and just like she had in juvie, Scarlett was occassionally showing flashes of the kind of behaviour she exhibited that got her there).

"What are you doing at eleven on Saturday?" she asked.

I smiled, although she couldn't see me. "You're going to talk to Dawn then?"

"Yeah. _She's_ just started setting up a psychic business – she's living alone on in the forest just outside Ontario and doesn't have many clients yet, so she has enough time. I asked her about payment but she said that she counts Mike and I as friends and she's happy to help. Apparently, she and Mike got pretty friendly while they were at the Playa after both of them got eliminated last year. You got time?"

"Yeah, I think so." I answered. "I'll see you then."

"All right. Bye!"

"Bye."

To be honest, watching this season of Total Drama was entertaining, but it was getting unsettling. That night, Scarlett started talking about taking control of the island at one point. Also, Chris gave all the competitors this outdated mush and it gave them all food poisoning (although I think Shawn didn't eat any of his, because he seemed better than everyone else...although the look of everyone else made him believe they were zombies when he saw them chasing Jasmine). In short, Thursday's episode was actually so unsettling, it was almost like watching twenty minutes of a horror movie (and while it takes a bit to scare me, I'm not a fan of horror movies – it's one of the few things Duncan and I don't have in common).

But that was nothing compared to Friday's episode. I literally hid my face in Duncan's shoulder, because I couldn't bear to look at the Scarlett on screen. This time, she was determined to take control of the island...or the million dollars. The island was literally going to self-destruct in an hour unless someone stopped it from happening. But Scarlett locked herself in the control room, tried to kill the other contestants, and threatened to let the island explode if Chris didn't give her the million dollars (he didn't). She didn't just change the way she acted – her eyes flashed red, her hair looked like fire (okay, so that's always what it looked like when it wasn't in a bun, but still), and her lack of glasses really changed her face to make her look more threatening.

After the others got away from the killer robots, they managed to trick Scarlett into opening up. Sugar tied her up and Sky disarmed the self-destruct, Scarlett was eliminated, and finally, an extra confessional from Chris came up. " _For those of you who are worried, don't stress. Scarlett is being held in solitary confinement for attempted murder in juvie as we speak."_

I looked up at Duncan. "Guess her resolve to never go back to juvie didn't work out, huh?" I said, managing a weak smile. "I'm glad she never flipped out while we were in there."

"To be honest, I'm kind of impressed." Duncan remarked. "I didn't know your cellmate had it in her."

"She used to make out she was dangerous." I told him. "Like when I called her stupid, she said I should probably ask to be moved to another cell if I did it again. But I didn't expect that!"

It was just a little scary to realize that not only had I been the prison bitch of a psychopath (although that was the first time I'd used that phrase), but I'd also shared a cell and secrets with one. Had it not been for Duncan being pretty much normal, I would have wondered if I should have been afraid of Izzy, too.

But I put all thoughts of Scarlett out of my head when I headed over to Zoey's to meet Dawn for the first time. Zoey greeted me at the door with a smile that looked, in my opinion, just a little too happy. "Hi!" she said. "Dawn's already here. She already watched All-Stars, so she knows who you are."

"Um, Zoey?" I said. "Are you all right?"

"Of course!" Zoey said, in a voice that matched her expression. "I'm great, of course I am! Why wouldn't I -" she broke off, and finally stopped smiling. "All right, I admit it." she muttered. "I feel like crap. I have been ever since I was found. I mean, even though I'm trying to stay confident that I will see Mike again, I _still_ feel awful. I know there's nothing physically wrong – I even took two pregnancy tests and saw a doctor, but there's no reason I shouldn't be any better." She lowered her voice and said "Don't say anything to anyone else – I can talk to you because you've had the same experiences, but no one else. They wouldn't understand."

Finally, she led me into the room, and introduced me to the aura-reader.

Dawn looked just as she had in the show. She had to be about the same age as us, but she was very short and petite. Smaller than Zoey. Maybe even smaller than me (and I had been smaller than practically every other teenager when I was in juvie and I hadn't grown much since). Nevertheless, something about her commanded respect. She was also pale, with long blonde hair, almost white, and wore a similar outfit to her one on the show – a sweater and a skirt over leggings, although not the green and blue ones she'd worn a year ago.

"Hello." she said when Zoey introduced us. Her voice was the same as the one on the show – very high-pitched, almost ethereal, but pleasant and gentle. "I saw you on Total Drama All-Stars. Congratulations on winning."

"Thanks." I said, but I really didn't want to think about All-Stars at that moment. "I watched Revenge of The Island. It really sucks, what Scott did to you."

"I try not to dwell on that any more, especially as I know he's not the same person now." Dawn answered, her voice still calm and neutral. "Anyway, I'm assuming you want to discuss methods on helping Mike control his mind?"

Zoey and I nodded, and Zoey spoke up. "I know he's still in there, but I haven't seen him since the day we both went to see him when Bailey told Mal about the full extent of his actions. I just...I don't think Mike's gone, but..."

Dawn gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Zoey. I'll be able to confirm it once I meet with him, but I'm almost certain that you're right." She paused, and her face became serious. "Speaking of which, there's something else I wanted to talk to you both about that I've noticed. Anyway, I'll work out exactly what kind of methods Mike could use in order to keep control of his mind once I've visited him, and worked out exactly how much control Mal currently has."

I looked up at her. "And what was the other thing you wanted to talk about?"

"I can see that both of you have a grey area in your auras." Dawn said. "It's causing both of you to feel both emotional and physical pain, although there is nothing physically wrong. Grey often means damage or fear."

I took a deep breath. "I assume Zoey hasn't told you about our past with Mal?"

"She hasn't." Dawn confirmed. "I was aware you knew him before the show, and I know that you were held hostage by him for a short time, but not any of the specifics."

I looked at Zoey. She nodded. And I quickly summarized things – the way he'd treated me in juvie, what he'd done that night in the spa hotel, what he'd done to Zoey later on, what he'd made both of us do...I had to hold back tears.

Dawn nodded. "I understand now. I can see it's quite faded for you, but in Zoey, it's very strong." While I had refused to cry, Zoey had kept her eyes downcast, as though she thought looking at the carpet would solve things. Instead, she'd begun crying silently.

"Listen, tell me something." Dawn said. "Do either of you have nightmares about Mal?"

"How did you know?" I asked. Zoey simply nodded, not speaking.

"Dreams are a manifestation of our inner selves." Dawn answered. "I try to be aware of my feelings, and often, the way I feel in life takes on a physical manifestation in my dreams. I think that you both need to be aware of these fears. It's the only way that you can find a way to get past them."

Zoey looked at the floor again. "I guess...I've been kind of trying not to think about it." she admitted. "It's too scary to relive. Especially when I think of some of the things he did to me after Bailey ran..."

"You don't have to dwell on them," Dawn reassured her. "But if you need to talk about it, do. And accept, rather than avoid."

There was no way anyone could keep a secret from Dawn. I could see that she didn't know everything. But she knew a great deal more than most would. She read the rest of my aura, and reported that most of my aura was a healthy brown, with a light pink part symbolizing the feelings I held for Duncan. I left soon after that, feeling a lot better.

And...well...would it be a gutter comment to admit that I didn't need dreams to show a physical manifestation of what I felt for him that night?

After all was done, Duncan spoke. "Wow, Diamond. You were really amazing tonight. I mean, usually you're good, but this was...no words."

I laughed at him. "You were pretty amazing yourself."

Screw auras and grey areas. I was starting to feel good again.

 **Just to make it clear, the reason Zoey is more damaged than Bailey is because she was more innocent before Mal came into her life. He destroyed the innocent part of her, and she's still not willing to accept that she's lost that part of her.**


	25. Chapter 25: Split Up Personality

**And now for some new things – some impossible, some real. First of all, thank you SO much to Bloodylilcorpse for letting me use some of the concepts of your amazing story "Mal Meets The Rebel" (and seriously, everyone else, go read that once you've finished this chapter).**

 **On the subject, thank you so much to Bloodylilcorpse for all your support and reviews, including this chapter – and another thanks to Elizabeth Fire Ice Heart.**

Dawn didn't just go to see Mike – she offered to try and help Zoey recover herself, and only three weeks after, Zoey reported via phone call that she was feeling a lot better. "Dawn said the grey area in my aura has faded considerably." she said. "I took it to mean that I'm recovering."

"Good." I said into the phone. "Any progress with Mike?"

"I haven't spoken to him yet." Zoey admitted, "But Dawn says she's been able to get through to him twice so far. Not for very long, but she's managed to start teaching him methods. A few of the other personalities have come through too, she says. In fact, she says that Svetlana offered to use the same methods so she could help Mike keep Mal down. Of course, that would give her more control too, but I'm pretty sure she meant to be helpful."

I tried to remember what it was like when I met Svetlana in my last days in juvie. "I can imagine that." I said finally. "I only really saw her when she was doing gymnastics, but she was always friendly."

It was two months later that it happened. All science was defied, but I'm getting ahead of myself here. First I should tell you about something else that happened within two months. Life jogged on normally, but then, after TDPI ended, I decided to investigate where Scarlett had actually been sent. Would you believe, it was the same place as where we'd met? So on visiting day, I went in and managed to convince the warden to let me talk to her.

Scarlett was in cuffs, but otherwise, she looked pretty much like her old self, hair still in a bun, glasses on. "Hello, Bailey." she said in her normal pleasant voice.

I gave a sigh. "Let's get it over with. You can drop the act any time. I saw Total Drama."

"And I saw you on it too." Scarlett replied. "Judging by the troubled behaviour exhibited by both Mike and Mal that season, I would say that they deserve to be here far more than I do." Her polite tone didn't change.

"Murder and destroying an island is pretty scary." I argued. "You always told me how dangerous you were when I was on the other side of the partition with you. Now I know why."

"What can I say?" Scarlett said, a smirk on her face. "My last cellmate before you was far too loud. I couldn't get a moment's peace without her clanging voice ringing in my ears. Although she wasn't as bad as that boy I assaulted at the time."

That gave me a thought. "That's it! That's why you went psychotic! Max was just like him, wasn't he?"

Scarlett actually gave me a real smile. "Nice deduction, Bailey. Indeed, Max reminded me of him entirely too much. That's why I was so desperate to have him voted off before he destroyed what was left of my sanity. He survived far too long, and eventually broke me."

I started to understand what Scarlett was. She wasn't crazy, not really. She was a person who reached her breaking point pretty easily – a psychopath, or a sociopath? She exhibited some of the traits, like a disregard for the rights of others, a lack of remorse for her actions (she accepted she'd done them and that they were wrong, but she never seemed to feel bad about it), an above-average intelligence...but in other ways, she seemed so sane that I couldn't possibly call her a psychopath.

When I left, I was still confused about her. As I left, she said "Um, Bailey? I know we aren't exactly friends, but will you visit me again? My family is terrified of me, and no one else will see me."

I wasn't surprised that her family was scared of her, since I remembered one of her confessionals. " _My brother pulled my hair once, so I made his remote controls come to life and attack him in the night. Every night. For six years. He's still in therapy."_

But all I said was "I don't know if I'll be able to, but I'll try. I still have issues to work out."

"Do you know much about Mike's progress?" Scarlett asked. "Is he your main problem?"

I nodded. "Yeah, he is. But I also have other stuff to deal with. Later, OK, Scarlett?"

"Okay. Later. I hope."

There was a lot of other stuff that happened in two months. For some reason, Duncan became quieter about what he was doing when I was at school. Whenever I tried to ask him if something was wrong, he'd just laugh it off, and I knew he was hiding something. Sometimes, like when we were doing sexual stuff and Duncan would seem like his old self, teasing me about screaming and calling me an "evil mini-minx" when I managed to take charge, I'd convince myself that I was being paranoid. But other times, I would say something, and Duncan would just freeze up, and I'd know that whatever I was seeing was real.

But after two months, Zoey called with the weirdest news I'd ever heard. "You will never believe it!" she said.

"What? Mike's out?" I asked.

"Not exactly. " Zoey said. "Well, yes, but not how you'd expect – science can't even begin to cover it! I mean, Mike told me about some kind of complicated science that made this happen, but I didn't understand it. Anyway, a few days ago, these people were able to kind of...split all of the personalites into different bodies. They only told me today, since they were releasing most of them."

"You're kidding!" I said.

"I'm serious!" Zoey insisted. "Come over right now!"

So I did, and it was true. Everyone except Mal was currently with Zoey. Mike himself looked a lot more relaxed, and although he looked tense when he first saw me, he soon relaxed, remembering that Mal couldn't take control of him any more. He was just plain old Mike, no longer battling a mental disorder.

Mike's other personalities looked very different outside of Mike. Chester was much more wrinkly than Mike could ever look, although he had the same voice as he did when he was in control of Mike. Svetlana was tall and thin and was in constant motion. Her voice no longer sounded like a guy trying to do a female voice. Vito refused to put a shirt on, and Manitoba still wore a fedora, but both looked different. For one thing, they looked older than Mike. Vito had a lot more muscle, and Manitoba was slightly darker, as if he'd gotten more of a tan from the Australian sun, but still. But on the whole, they still looked like a family. They all had that same tan skin as Mike, and the wild gravity-defying hair (although Vito slicked his hair down with gel and Svetlana's was longer and tied back), and they clearly had a close bond after sharing control of one person since Mike developed DID.

As for Mal...well, he wasn't in the hospital any more, since he was just one person. They'd sent him to juvie for rape, kidnap, and apparently stealing (well, did you think he paid for all those outfits?), but they'd sent him to an all-male juvie, since his past indicated that his victims were mostly female, and that hadn't changed. Apparently, ownership of him had been sold to someone who took an interest in him, and therefore decided that's where he should be.

It was actually a lot of fun to see all of Mike's personalities individually, hearing them joke around and tease each other, or argue. Chester was still pretty annoying, but for a crusty old man, he was all right. Vito was still really obnoxious, though. He took basically one look at me and said "Eh yo, you're looking pretty cute. Wanna come back to my place? I could show you a good time."

I slapped him, although only on the arm. "Get lost, I already have a boyfriend. And what 'place'? Don't you live here?"

Manitoba, on the other hand, someone known for flirting with everything that moves, witnessed me shooting Vito down and was perfectly friendly to me without being flirtatious. He did flirt with Zoey a little, but not seriously.

But whatever. I didn't care what happened now. I didn't need to fear Mal again. It was all over.

 **Um, Bailey...there's another story coming. The next chapter will be the last, but I will be starting on a threequel. I'm going to make this a trilogy. Anyone, feel free to come up with a good name for the series!**


	26. Chapter 26: Epilogue

**Before I start, I want to mention something that should have been in the last chapter. Scarlett mentions a cellmate before Bailey, who was too loud. This was a reference to a "Ridonculous Race" character. I meant to add in that the character would have been in juvie for knowingly and repeatedly smuggling fruit across the world from a young age, and would have been in juvie at the age of..well, anyway, it was five years before RR. Know who it was?**

 **Thanks for reviewing, Elizabeth Fire Ice Heart, Bloodylilcorpse, and queenoftrouble (sorry, but I don't intend to include them, much as I like them).**

 **Anyway, here we are. The last chapter in this story:**

Mal was in an all-male juvie, true. But Mike, all his personalites, and Zoey took it upon themselves to visit.

"Do you want to come?" Zoey offered. "I mean, you have something you'd like to say to him, right?"

I frowned. "I guess...I guess I do want to settle the score. But I don't want to go while you and the others are there. I want to speak to him alone. We can talk through a glass partition, right?"

I could. And I got to talk to Mal.

"Well, well." he teased. "It seems my old slave-girl still can't stay away from me. Sorry, doll face, but I'm moving on. You and Zoey were fun for awhile, but it seems that Zoey's too hard to get to, and you run far too much."

"Can it, creep." I snarled. "Now that you're the only one left, I wanted to ask you something. Why did you do it, Mal? Why did you do anything? And why were you so desperate to degrade me?"

Mal chuckled. "Isn't it obvious? I live on torture and desire. There's only one thing in the world that can combine those two things, and so it made me interested. And then I found out that it could also be a useful tool to control people. I used pain as control before that, and I was getting bored with just the one method. So when I met you in juvie, I tried it out, and discovered how I had a magic touch for it, something that would make it almost a drug to my victim. Well, as long as they couldn't reach anyone else who would be a substitute and get my little drug addicts clean." He laughed bitterly. "Yes, you were my first. I started out hurting you because I wanted to ensure control before I tested my theory of desire and torture being used as a tool of control. And it worked. Zoey reacted the same way as you did, until she got that Dawn girl to help her get through going cold turkey on it."

I paused. "What about the split? What happened?"

Mal shrugged. "I didn't understand the explanation. You wouldn't, either." I saw his face suddenly twist, as if remembering something painful, but he wouldn't tell me any more about the split – just what it was like now.

"It sucks that I can't use Mike as a cover-up any more, but it _feels_ freer." Mal said. "I don't have to fight anyone, since there's no one else in my head. And I don't have any lust for Zoey any more."

I frowned. "Why would you not? I thought you liked to break innocents."

Mal shrugged. "For one thing, I already broke her. And for another, I guess Mike's influence meant I had to feel something for Zoey. I couldn't stand her, but I wanted to take her. I did it, and I wanted to do it again. Now, I couldn't care less. I wouldn't laugh _or_ cry if she dropped dead on the spot right now." He paused. "But although I've decided to let you go, I'll admit that I still want to do to you what I did a long time ago." His voice dropped to a seductive and sadistic tone. "I want to hold you close and touch you until you're begging me to let you peak. I want to paint you in bruises and have you still plead for my touch. I want to turn you into my slave-girl junkie again, getting high on desire..."

I put my hands over my ears, but I could still hear him. No matter how I blocked my ears, his voice and words were in my head now, and I wanted to run away from them.

"Stop!" I finally screamed. "I don't want to listen to this, and I'm not going to stay for it! I came here for closure, not to hear someone say all the degrading things they want to do to me! Goodbye, Mal!"

I can't even remember what happened after that. All I remember was that for another week, life went on as usual. And then, Duncan was arrested (apparently whatever job he had crossed the line and was illegal), but was still young enough to end up in juvie.

"I'm sorry, Diamond. I know I should have told you, but I didn't know how to." I heard him whisper. "I love you."

"I love you too." I whispered back. "I'll find a way to be there with you."

I didn't care what he'd done – I still loved him. Duncan wasn't exactly Romeo, but he had light in his heart, and he did love me.

Duncan was sent to the same all-boys juvie as Mal was. And that was when I made my choice. Sure, it took me a while to decide, and I spent a long time thinking about it, but I did make that choice.

I may have made a promise to myself. But I was going back to juvie. And I didn't care that it was all-male – I was going to be there. Somehow. If I had to commit a crime, I'd do it. And if I had to sneak in, I'd do it. And if I had to dress like a guy – ooh, that's the best thought yet!

I was going back to juvie. And this time, Mal wouldn't want to get to me.

 **That's an opening to the threequel. Wanted to keep you guys interested! I'm sorry the epilogue was so short, but look out for the next story!**


End file.
